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WHY DID YOU START TO BECOME INTERESTED IN MOTORSPORT?
Buying your first supercar is a massive thing, and you do your coffee meets, go out driving with your pals and do driving tours, then the next natural progression is to get it on a track and do a track day, but obviously the wear and tear on something like a Ferrari on track is a massive thing with stone chips and how expensive brakes and tyres are, so it progressed from there to looking at buying a proper racing car and getting into racing, but ultimately, motorsport is something I’ve always wanted to do on some level.
The great thing about racing is I don’t think it matters what you drive. It doesn’t have to be a 500bhp Porsche, if everybody was in Minis or MX5s, you’d still have an amazing time, and that’s what it’s all about for me.
TAKE US ON YOUR JOURNEY WITH RADICAL.
I initially went to get a Ginetta and had a look around the factory, but the car I was looking at was the G40, the little one, and I’m 6’3” and 16 stone, so it just wasn’t for me. A friend of mine then told me about Radical so I went for a look, and in 2017 I ended up buying one before I’d even tried one. The car was an SR3 RSX which was the second generation of SR3. I remember driving home thinking what have I done?! I was thinking that race cars just haemorrhage money, but what I didn’t realise is they don’t, they really hold their money well.
With a supercar, you’re so precious of them getting scratched or chipped, and when I got that first Radical second-hand, I thought I’m going to wash it, and when I’d washed it it looked exactly the same as it did before, covered in chips and scratches, but when you do a few track days in a racing car, you realise it doesn’t matter what it looks like.
Initially it was just to do track days and take my friends out at Donington Park, Silverstone and the like, and it was great fun whipping by things that you really shouldn’t be in a 225bhp little car because the aero on them is just incredible.
After buying the car, the guys at Radical told me to go out with ex-Formula 3 racing driver, Stefano Leaney, to show me what the car could do around Silverstone, and after three laps, I once again thought what have I done?! This thing was mental, I couldn’t drive it, I was terrified of it and thought I was going to have to sell it.
After that, I jumped in myself and within three or four laps I was overtaking Ferraris, and when I got out I asked Stef why everyone was so slow. He said they’re not, it’s just when they go into a corner at 80, you can go in at 100. The cars are so incredibly grippy and stable, and they do exactly what you think they’re going to do.
I had that car for three years and just did track days in it. Then I bought the SR8 which I had for a couple of years, and that was a savage monster which we spent a lot of time in and took to Spa and Zolder.
TELL US ABOUT MAKING THE MOVE INTO RACING.
While I was out at one of those track days, I borrowed a friend of mine’s SR3 and I was actually quicker than I was in the SR8 because of the power difference making the SR3 so much easier to handle.
After that, I decided to buy another SR3 to actually race and did my first race in the 750 Motor Club which was one of the cheapest ways of getting into racing, and it was great fun. For performance, you’re not going to outperform a Radical for the amount of money you spend. You’re looking at proper GT3 McLarens and Porsches, so this was a great way to get a bit of knowledge and experience in racing, and I did several rounds that year before doing the Radical Cup around Silverstone at the end of the year which was a baptism of fire!
In your first race, you feel like there’s pressure on you, like it’s my first race, I’ve qualified last, everyone’s going to think I’m cr*p, but there’s none of that. You go to scrutineering and everyone’s high fiving each other, and you realise it doesn’t matter who’s first and who’s last, there’s no pressure.
You’re better off going in and holding your hands up, “Hi, I’m Lee, I’m new to this”, rather than going in with an arrogance thinking you’re going to whip everyone, because you’re not.
The first time you go racing is terrifying. I don’t care who you are, I think if you’re not terrified there’s something wrong with you! Doing a rolling start in a big grid of cars was something entirely new for me, but within three laps of racing, I was two seconds quicker than my qualifying time, just because I was in a race, following other cars and thinking well, if he can go around there I can, if he can brake there I can.
It brings some really interesting people together from all walks of life as these things do where everyone shares an interest. Like through Supercar Driver, I’ve met loads of people from up and down the country who I keep in touch with on a regular basis.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AND GOALS FOR THIS YEAR
At the end of last year, I decided to buy an SR3 XXR, which is the latest generation. It feels much tighter and more balanced to drive, throttle response is much better and the new AP brakes are incredible — it gives you so much confidence.
The plan is to do almost the full year of Radical Cup UK in 2024 in the XXR, other than my son’s 18th birthday weekend which I can’t get away for!
Bobby Thompson is going to do my driver coaching for me this year which should be great as I love Bobby, and he says he can shave a couple of seconds off pretty easily, then you’re chasing tenths which is more difficult.
When I started I was at the back of the grid. The guys at the front are so much quicker and so much younger; we’ve got Max Verstappen’s sim teammate competing who is 21, and some of these young guys are pretty much setting lap records as soon as they jump in the car — they’re brilliant and racing is all they know. So my goal this year is more against myself, and it’s to try and not be qualifying 20th out of 20, to try and make up a few spaces. It’s not trying to win the races, it’s just trying to have fun and challenge myself.
My son Louis will soon be having his first drive in a Radical on a test day which he’s made up about. The dream would be to have us both racing and doing an endurance race together. I want to get him out in the car and maybe he’ll do a year in the SR1 while I do it in the SR3 to cut his teeth, as much as I’m sure he’ll want to go straight into the SR3! It’s alright for him because he’s not paying so he can’t wait for it!
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO A FELLOW SUPERCAR DRIVER MEMBER TOYING WITH THE IDEA OF RACING?
The main thing I’d say is go and do an experience day with Radical or Performance Time, as when you put the package together of what you’re getting for the day, you can hire the cars relatively cheaply and it’s definitely worthwhile. Once you’ve taken your GT3 or whatever on track and factor in brakes and tyres, a day on track could cost you what it would to hire someone else’s Radical and you’ll be so much quicker. Chris at Performance Time / Radical UK also sells the most second hand Radicals in the country as one of their distributors. I met him through Radical and he has become a good friend who I speak with on a weekly basis.
Get out with one of their drivers as you don’t realise how good these things are until you’ve been in one, and they will blow you away. They’re called Radical and they look radical and they are radical, but you can actually be taught to drive one pretty easily, they give you so much feedback and they’re quite forgiving cars. You don’t need to be a racing driver. You can commit to an entire season or you can pick and choose the races you want to do. You need a team with you, everyone in the Radical Cup has a team. It’s not something I’d suggest you try and run on your own because you need a lot of knowledge to set the cars up and to run them. I use Valour Racing who will run six cars in the Radical Cup UK this year. Your race team will help you the most, but what I’ve found when you go to a Radical Cup event is that it’s almost like a massive family. Everybody helps anybody, it doesn’t matter if you’re at the front or the back, all the drivers, all the teams, all the mechanics are saying hello to you. They’ve got music pumping out in the pits and the paddock, it’s a really fun atmosphere, and as much as I love the driving, the whole experience of it is just as important. More than anything, just go and get out in one, but once you’ve been in one, the biggest problem is you will want one, because they’re not like anything else!