Martyn Ball claimed a maiden victory in the opening race of the Silverstone weekend, Robert Souster rebounded with a victory in race two, while Oliveira completed a Class B clean sweep by taking poles, wins, and fastest laps for both races of the day, mixing with his Leon Morrell Racing team-mates at the front of the pack.
Radical Club Challenge Round 2 - Ball and Souster impress, Oliveira dominates
The Radical Club Challenge arrived on the 9th May for the first of two Silverstone weekends in 2026, this visit featuring the fast and flowing ‘National’ layout. With an average qualifying speed over 100 miles per hour, the Northamptonshire-based circuit requires precision and commitment to maximise lap time.
QUALIFYING
Continuing a stellar start to his 2026 campaign, Rob Souster claimed SR1 pole with a 59.443-second lap, accompanied in the sub-one-minute club by Scott Lear’s 59.852. Martyn Ball placed third in class, translating his consistent podium-threatening pace from Brands Hatch. Stephen Riley, in a rental SR1 for Leon Morrell Racing, was fourth in class, ahead of Mike Seymour.
Overall, the Class B field gave fans a very close and highly competitive qualifying session, with lap times from 5th to 16th overall covering no more than two seconds. Pedro Oliveira powered through to claim Class B pole and start among his Leon Morrell Racing team-mates at the sharp end of the grid. The Brazilian’s 55.812 time put him third overall, clearing Ben Higgs’ SR3 RS by half a second.
Morrell and Hall circulated the Silverstone National Circuit fastest of all and locked out the front row in their PR6s, posting 54.866 and 55.257-second times respectively. They were accompanied by team-mates Oliveira and Aaron Rose on row two.
RACE ONE
With the sun beating down on the Northamptonshire venue, Race One kicked off with Souster holding the SR1 lead, closely challenged by Ball as the field navigated the opening lap. A brief Safety Car was called when Scott Lear spun at Brooklands. Following the restart, Souster quickly re-established the gap to Ball and extended it consistently each lap.
Around 17 laps in, Souster’s gap began to shrink as he noticed an issue: “At first I thought it was a puncture as the car was pulling to one side,” he said after the race. “It turns out the suspension upright had failed” and his race ended prematurely.
Martyn Ball subsequently took his maiden Radical Club Challenge victory, adding to the collection of silverware from the Brands Hatch opener. Lear, despite the early spin, reclaimed second in class from Seymour with six minutes to go. During the early phase of race one, it was Miles Drew, Alin Fulga and Sherif Hosny providing spectators with clean and close racing in the mid-pack.
However, it was Oliveira who dominated - leading Class B from start to finish - and continued his spectacular form from the Brands Hatch round: “The only negative… The car is covered in bugs!” said Oliveira, following a controlled race from start to finish. Once the tyres were in the window, he extended his lead over Philip Brown and Ben Higgs, who felt troubled by backmarkers towards the end, but held onto third in class over Barry Liversidge.
Polesitter Morrell took advantage of the clean side of the grid, sweeping through Copse in the lead and promptly stretching the gap to Hall behind. Although he held a steady gap as the race progressed, lapping traffic around the National Circuit proved tricky and Hall closed the gap as the minutes ticked down. When the chequered flag fell, Morrell claimed his third victory by just one second and completed a trio of Race One wins for his Leon Morrell Racing team.
“That was wicked!” Morrell said, “Charles was like Pac-Man behind me! But I managed to maintain the gap and just creeped it out… allowing me a bit of breathing space to be careful through traffic.”
After a pit lane start for failing post-qualifying ride height checks, Matthew Twynham recovered to 12th overall.
RACE TWO
Race two kicked off to the symphony of 24 swarming hornets led by Leon Morrell and Charles Hall. On the opening lap, Hall passed Morrell, allowing him to control the pace and defend from his team-mate.
Souster led the SR1 pack, with a smoother ride out front as he broke away from Ball. Lear completed the podium, picking up more silverware following Brands Hatch. Mike Seymour came home fourth. Unfortunately, Stephen Riley was a non-starter as his rented Leon Morrell Racing SR1 produced smoke during assembly.
Souster said: “It hurt to lose the race (one) like that but we were really pleased to be able to get the win in race two. Moreso for all the guys that worked so hard to get the car fixed and back out on the track”
Meanwhile, Oliveira once again dominated in Class B, mixing with the likes of Aaron Rose’s PR6 as he gradually stretched clear of Philip Brown over the first 10 laps. Barry Liversidge spun backwards into the gravel following contact with Dean Hudson into Becketts, triggering a Safety Car to retrieve the stranded RJ Motorsport SR3 RSX.
The Safety Car period lasted several laps, leaving only a handful of minutes left in the race for a short dash to the finish. Drivers balanced risk with reward on a knife-edge around the historic British circuit, including Sherif Hosny in a three-wide moment approaching Copsecorner at 130 miles per hour. Hudson backed out of the middle, while Richard Gillman on the outside was unfortunate to be collected by Hosny, ending both their races early in a sea of gravel.
When the chequered flag fell, it marked the completion of Pedro Oliveira’s spectacular clean sweep with two poles, two wins and the fastest lap in each race. Brown and Higgs completed the Class B podium, followed by a strong showing from Calvin O’Connor and a “pretty chaotic but good fun” race from Sam Venning.
Hall and Morrell once again led the field overall, but an early lead for Hall allowed him to control the pace and defend against his team-mate. Almost every lap, the leading pair swapped places into Brooklands—inches apart—until the Safety Car neutralised the fight.
When they returned to green flag racing for a dash to the chequered flag, it was Charles Hall who took a sensational first win of 2026 by just 0.302 seconds. Rose took third, accompanied throughout the race by Oliveira.
The Radical Club Challenge heads to Anglesey Circuit in Wales next for sun, sea and spectacle on 27th-28th June.
Race report by Kip Morgan
Photography by Christopher Dixon