The Birkett Relay is the UK’s largest annual motor race. It has been running for 73 years and attracts 70 teams and 300 drivers each year. Going up against such a large field of competition makes Radical and RSR’s success in the competition extra special.
The line up of James Lay, John MacLeod and Ben Stone secured a hard-fought win against fierce competition. Team RSR were the class of the field in their Radicals as they raced around the Silverstone circuit to victory.
MacLeod and Stone have now achieved a Hattrick of consecutive wins, for Lay it is his second consecutive win.
MacLeod's win was a record-breaking sixth victory, to crown him as the Birkett's most successful driver in its 73-year history. We asked him what he put that down to:
“I’ve run in the Birkett eight times, always in various iterations of the SR3, alongside team-mates also running SR3s.
They’ve been reliable, and consistent, and are absolutely the right tool for the job - doing well in the Birkett is about navigating your way through the incredible traffic created by 70 teams being on track, almost all of which are running non-aero machinery about 30s - 45s a lap slower.
The high closing speeds to these groups of racers, all focussed on their own Handicap race, mean you need an agile and predictable car that responds well to whatever surprises are going to come your way.
It’s what makes the Birkett so appealing, and such a challenge - it’s great to be out there with machinery varying from NASCAR to Suzuki Swifts to BMW 325s.
This year, after six hours of wet and dry running, seven safety cars and a total of 534 miles covered, we won by 0.95s - if that’s not a reason to go again next year I don’t know what is”.