- Just a single point separates Will Hunt and James Lay going into final Radical SR1 Cup round
- All race action to be Live Streamed on the Radical Sportscars YouTube channel
Donington Park plays host to the penultimate round of the Radical Challenge and the season finale of the Radical SR1 Cup this weekend, ahead of the highly anticipated visit to Spa Francorchamps next month.
In the headline Radical Challenge, the season-long duel between RAW Motorsport’s Matt Bell and 360 Racing’s Jerome de Sadeleer is set to continue, with Bell heading into the round banking a 94-point advantage.
After a long lay-off, Bell has been a revelation in his comeback year, but de Sadeleer has proven a constant thorn in his side all season.
The only other drivers to visit the top step of the podium have been de Sadeleer’s 360 Racing teammate Mark Richards, who won at Brands Hatch GP, and the Radical Works Team’s James Sweetnam, for whom a bold tyre choice on a drying track at Silverstone GP proved decisive in his maiden victory.
Richards currently sits fourth in the championship points table behind the Works Team run Jason Rishover, who has proven consistent with multiple podium finishes as he inches closer to that elusive first win. Richards and de Sadeleer recently shared a Fun Cup car in the support race for the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month, but the former teammates are sure to become firm opponents this weekend at Donington.
RAW Motorsport drivers John Macleod and Chris Short have both shown good pace this season, but they’ve not always been blessed with the luck to go with it. They are currently tied for fifth in the Championship and are both capable of strong podium finishes, so will be ones to watch.
Radical Sportscars official sales partner Chris Preen, from Valour Racing, is a regular top-six runner, and Track Focused’s Dean Warriner will be ever-competitive as he gets to grips with his new Radical SR3 XX. Having graduated from the Radical SR1 Cup, Warriner debuted the latest-generation SR3 XX at the previous round at Silverstone GP and is sure to find increasing speed with every lap.
Peter Tyler and Peter Brookes join again from the Radical Works Team, 360 Racing’s line-up is completed by Wesley Fongenie, and Steven Lake joins from AiM Technologies. Anthony Ayres is out again with Mectech Motorsport, and finally, Phil Brown joins with RJ Motorsport.
The battle at the top of the Radical SR1 Cup could hardly be closer as the field arrives for the championship decider, with RAW Motorsport’s James Lay sitting just a single point ahead of Scorpio’s Will Hunt.
With next month’s Spa Francorchamps weekend designated as a non-championship round for the Radical SR1 Cup, the winner is set to be crowned this weekend at Donington Park.
Hunt showed total domination over the early parts of the season by taking clean sweeps at several rounds, but a sustained riposte from Lay has seen him make up the difference. The racing between these two is first-class with both young-guns showing incredible respect during millimetre-close racing, and their battle will undoubtedly prove one of the highlights of the weekend.
Mackenzie Walker of Road to Race managed to upset the form book last time out, winning at Silverstone GP. But he sits fifth in the Championship currently, behind Track Focused’s Frazer McFadden and Ben Stone, the latter heading the Rookie Championship.
Nick Zapolski hasn’t done every round this year but is usually in the fight for a race podium, and RAW Motorsport team-mate Gavin McAlpine is back this weekend, after missing the previous round at Silverstone.
Alex Spooner and the experienced Mark Williams run with Track Focused too, while the Radical Works Team will be busy fielding James Ockenden, Paul Atherton, James Hadley, and teenage karters Daryl De Leon and Ben Caisley. De Leon and Caisley are karting teammates; the former only made his car racing debut at the last round, and this weekend marks the first time Caisley has even sat in a racing car, creating an exciting footnote in this season’s SR1 Cup action and a preview of what’s to come next year. Privateer Andy Lowe is back also, completing the 16-car line-up.
The Radical SR1 Cup has both of its 20-minute races on Saturday, at 12.20 and 15.50, with the Radical Challenge racing on Saturday at 14.40 and 18.00, and back on Sunday for the 45-minute Enduro at 14.05.
All of the weekend’s action will live-streamed via the Radical Sportscars’ YouTube channel, with news and updates shared regularly on Instagram and Facebook.