Nestled amid the pines and vines near the ancient village of Le Castellet in France’s stunning Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, the 1960s passion project of pastis magnate Paul Ricard has become one of motorsport’s most iconic venues.
Home of the Formula 1 French Grand Prix from 1971-1990, and more recently 2018 to 2022, the 5.84-kilometer facility is most well-known for its 1.8-kilometer long Mistral straight, one of the longest straights of any circuit. Its high speeds are punctuated by long, high downforce sweeping bends and tight hairpins, giving plenty of opportunity for the bold and brave to make their mark.
RSR’s Marcus Littlewood arrives to Paul Ricard as the Radical Cup Europe championship leader. He proved his credentials with a stunning last-to-first drive in the opening race at Mugello, and capitalised on the mistakes of others at Spa to go fastest and extend his lead. Littlewood came home with the Radical SR1 Cup silverware on his last visit to Circuit Paul Ricard in 2024 when the Finecut Radical Cup UK visited for an international round, so he again begins this weekend as the favourite.
One thing is for sure, Littlewood won’t have it all his own way. Erland Olsen has come close to Littlewood by taking a second place in Mugello, and the Step Motorsport pairing of Sebastian Schou and Morten Strømsted have also matched his pace on occasion.
Littlewood’s RSR teammate and Fangio Class leader Paul Denning is sitting this round out, a situation that Fangio Class stalwarts Andy Lowe and John McLeod will surely be looking to capitalise on. Lowe and McLeod fought each other hard for the Fangio Class win at last month’s Finecut Radical Cup UK round at Brands Hatch, McLeod emerging the victor, so the pair will be eager to continue their battle in France.
Radical Approved Customer Team Valour Racing are operating in three global Radical championships this season and bring a truly international flavour to the grid. The British team, fresh from running both the Radical Cup UK and Radical Cup North America in the past month, front with 2025 Radical Cup North America Gold Class champion Jack Yang, and American young-gun Luke Kendall.
Both were on track at Sonoma last month with Valour in the North American Cup. Stateside, Yang has stepped up to the PRO 1500 class and claimed his first podium at the rain-drenched Californian event, and while Kendall was undisputedly fastest all weekend, was unlucky not to convert his pace into a race win. It was a similar situation for Kendall in the last European round at Spa Francorchamps, and with his eyes on an LMP3 program in 2027, he’ll be itching to get the monkey off his back and take the top step of the podium this weekend.
RJ Motorsport’s Brian Huang is another driver making a dual European/North American campaign this year, with the experienced Amir Feyzulin also joining from the Gulf Radical Cup and running with North Motorsport.
Peter Gustafson and Filip Svensson will again be representing Radical Sweden in the sole Radical SR10 on the grid this weekend. The turbocharged weapon is a popular choice at the front of North American grids but rarer on this side of the Atlantic, and the SR10’s sheer speed down the Mistral will be something to behold.
The revival of Radical racing on the Continent has been a long time coming, and the Radical Cup Europe is proving highly popular with competitors and spectators alike.
All qualifying and races will be streamed live from Paul Ricard on the Creventic Motorsports TV YouTube channel, with event coverage on Instagram @radical_cup_europe