George Kurtz (#4, CROWDSTRIKE RACING BY APR, ORECA, LMP2 Pro-Am) commenced his racing career behind the wheel of Radical SR3’s at Spring Mountain Motor Club and Resort, just outside of Las Vegas. This led to numerous seasons in the Radical Cup North America series, championship runner-up in the Pro 1500 (SR3) class in 2013 and multiple race wins as recent as 2020, before his focus shifted to SRO, IMSA and Le Mans competition. Kurtz has three Le Mans starts to his name, taking victory in LMP2 Pro-Am in 2023. The American is also a twice Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 champion.
Five Radical Alumni to tackle ’26 Le Mans
PJ Hyett (#99, AO by TF, ORECA, LMP2 Pro-Am) too has Radical Cup on the resume. Hyett was the winner of 2024 Radical Cup Race 4 and 5 at Barber Motorsports Park with Team Stradale, and is one of numerous drivers whose first foray into motorsport was with a Radical at Autobahn Country Club, located just outside of Chicago. Interestingly Hyett’s codriver Dane Cameron also has a connection to Radical. Cameron’s uncle, Steve Cameron, who was instrumental in Dane’s formative years, is co-principal of Radical Northwest– the world’s largest volume Radical dealer based at Sonoma Raceway in California.
Bijoy Garg (#343, INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION, ORECA, LMP2) is another Radical Cup North America race winner, having won Pro 1340 (SR3) on his debut weekend in 2023. A year later Garg won Le Mans on debut in LMP2 with United Autosport. Garg is also an IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge LMP3 champion.
Ian Aguilera (#37, CLX MOTORSPORT, ORECA LMP2) has raced Radicals on no less than three continents, having competed in the Radical Cup United Kingdom, the Gulf Radical Cup and the 2024 Radical World Finals at Virginia International Raceway in the United States. However, it was a year prior, in 2023 at Yas Marina that Aguilera was crowned a Radical World Champion in Pro 1500 (SR3). The Mexican driver has also been a member of Escuderia Telmex since 2019.
Peter Dempsey (#34 RACING TEAM TURKEY BY TF, CORVETTE LMGT3) is most famous for winning at ’The Brickyard’ (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) by the smallest margin in history. The Irishman cross the line a mere 0.0026 seconds ahead in a four-wide photo finish during the 2013 IndyNXT race. Yet, it is Dempsey’s Radical history that will have the most relevance to Le Mans. In 2019 he won the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill in dominant fashion with co-drivers Eric Wagner, Antoine Comeau and Neil Alberico in a Radical SR3. In fact, it was the first time a car with a capacity under 2L had clinched the outright victory in the grueling event, beating LMP3 and GT3 machinery.
With so many starters having roots with the British brand, Radical’s mantra of #wemakeracers is alive and well. The cars are the preeminent choice of the world’s top motor racing country clubs, while national and regional Radical Cup series span four continents.
The 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans also marks the 20th anniversary of the first time Radical Motorsport competed at Le Mans with its own SR9 LMP2 car. Powered by a Judd V8, the car made it debut in 2006 with UK based Rollcenter Racing, finishing 5th in class, and returned to the French classic numerous times through 2010, when it scored 6th in class with Swiss team Race Performance.