Hagerty Radical Cup UK Round 4 Circuit Paul Ricard Race Report

PRO SR3

Lulham's Valour Racing SR3 XXR secured pole position for the first race, with teammate Chris Preen alongside him. Preen took the early lead at Turn One, followed by Lulham, Luke Hilton, Alim Geshev, Kristian Brookes, and Adrien Giraud.

"It was close into that first corner, but I knew it would be a clean fight with Chris. It was nice to lead, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold him back," Preen commented.

Lulham and Hilton joined Preen in an early breakaway, but Lulham ran wide, allowing Hilton to grab second before Lulham quickly regained the position. The top five remained tightly grouped until Lulham overtook Preen on the Mistral Straight, with Hilton falling behind. By the end of the lap, Lulham led from Brookes, Preen, Girard, and Oscar Joyce, while Hilton retired to the pitlane due to a lack of pace.

"There was such a lack of pace, but the team did a record-breaking engine change to get me back out for the second race," Hilton explained.

As the top three settled, Girard's fourth place came under threat from Joyce, while John Macleod, Jack Yang, and Peter Tyler battled for sixth. Lulham consolidated his lead, but Joyce overtook Girard for fourth on lap four and continued to close in on Preen for third. Brookes' exit from the race on lap nine handed Lulham a 15-second lead.

"I had a great start but faced the same issue I had in testing. The limiter in third gear caused the car to cut out, and when it happened again, I couldn't restart due to fuel pressure issues," Brookes explained.

Lulham secured a comfortable win, with Preen narrowly holding off DW Racing’s Joyce for second. Radical France’s Girard, Valour’s Yang, and RSR’s Macleod completed the top six, with Macleod finishing second to Preen in the Fangio Trophy. Tyler, Geshev, Amir Feyzulin, and Jason Rishover rounded out the top ten, with Rishover recovering from a first-lap spin. Feyzulin's exclusion for not serving a drive-through penalty promoted Valour’s Rob Greenwood into the top ten, while Adrian Hallmark finished the race for North Motorsport.

In the second race, Lulham maintained his pole position advantage, despite Preen’s attempts to overtake. Preen’s manoeuvre allowed Hilton to seize second place. Behind them were Girard, Geshev, and Macleod. Geshev overtook Girard at the chicane, but Brookes, starting from the back, rapidly climbed to sixth by the end of the opening lap.

Yang retired after one lap, while Lulham extended his lead. Brookes, flying through the field, overtook Girard and Geshev on lap five, setting his sights on Preen next.

"It was clear at the front for Lulham and Hilton, but Brookes closed the gap on Preen, eventually overtaking him at Le Beusset on lap nine," Brookes said. Preen acknowledged, "I was confident I could hold him off, but I knew Kristian would catch up."

Geshev and Girard retained their top six positions, while Rishover passed Macleod for seventh, securing the runner-up spot in the Fangio Trophy behind Preen. Macleod fended off Joyce in the closing laps, with Tyler completing the top ten, followed by Feyzulin, Greenwood, and Hallmark.

In the reverse grid for race three, Lulham started seventh, with Yang and Geshev on the front row. Preen made the best start, moving from fourth to lead into Turn One. Geshev's wide run allowed Brookes into second, with Hilton charging from the back to third.

Hilton quickly overtook Girard and then Brookes, while Lulham also passed Girard and poised to follow. Preen ran wide, enabling both Hilton and Lulham to advance. Brookes led for three laps until Lulham overtook him, securing his eleventh win of the season.

"My diffuser was damaged, causing understeer and instability. I lost a mirror glass, and my feet came off the pedals. It was hard to control the car and see where Chris was," Brookes explained.

Girard remained fifth, with Rishover closing in, followed by Geshev, Yang, Macleod, and Joyce. Brookes' defensive errors allowed Lulham to seize the lead, and Hilton's track limit penalty demoted him from second to fifth. Preen regained third, followed by Girard and Joyce.

"It was tough catching up after a slow start," Joyce said. Geshev, Tyler, Yang, Macleod, Greenwood, Feyzulin, and Hallmark completed the top ten.

PRO SR1

With just the two PRO SR1 Championship contenders making the trip to France, it was a race between DW Racing’s Sam Shaw and fellow title challenger Marcus Littlewood’s family run car.

Littlewood was on pole, but Shaw grabbed the lead initially. But the leader was soon heading towards the pit at the end of his second lap, with a broken front splitter, after clattering a marker, leaving Littlewood with a clear run to the flag.

“I got to grips with the track fairly quickly but didn’t want to get overconfident. Sam took to the outside at the start and managed to slingshot ahead, but I got him back into Turn One on the second lap, before he hit a marker and retired,” said Littlewood.

Although Shaw was back in action for race two, he couldn’t match Littlewood’s pace and was left chasing his rival throughout, after avoiding teammate Tyler’s spinning SR3. He was suffering from oversteer which hampered his progress and was later diagnosed as a camber alignment issue.

“I got a fantastic start and was up with some SR3’s. Sam was trying to slingshot me again but Tyler’s SR3 spun and held him up, so I got a gap and went clear again.” Littlewood explained.

It was a much better start for Shaw in the final race of the weekend, successfully holding off Littlewood for the first four laps.

“I got caught up with some SR3’s and Sam got away from me. But I managed to reel him in, was quick out of the chicane and got him at the next right hander and was able to pull away again” concluded a delighted Littlewood, as he is back in the title hunt.

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