Haydn Chance took his first pole position in the Hagerty Radical UK Cup finale, in his first outing in the new SR3 XXR and from lights out in race one, proved to be the man to beat. “The new car had a better balance to suit me than the one I have raced this year and the set up suited me too,” he said.
Chris Preen slotted into second behind his Valour team mate, from DW’s Ben Caisley, 360’s Jason Rishover and Doris’s James Lay, but the safety car was straight into action with two SR1’s in the Redgate gravel and Peter Tyler had been tapped into a spin on the exit too.
Sixth placed Jacek Zielonka then hit Lay’s rear as he slowed for the safety car, which brought the 360 driver a post-race disqualification.
“I braked behind the safety car and Jacek hit me and spun me, but I got away with it quite lightly,” said Lay.
They were soon racing again and the lead quartet made an immediate break, with Doris’s Mark Williams fifth, from team mate John MacLeod, as Lay had slipped to 15th after his contact with Zielonka.
Caisley was pressing hard to challenge Preen for second, but it allowed Rishover to join in too, becoming a three-car battle as Chance increased his lead.
RAW’s Tommi Gore made it past DW’s Andy Lowe for seventh at Goddards and soon started to close on both MacLeod and Williams.
As Caisley continued to harass Preen for second, Rishover began to fall back in fourth, but Lay was fighting back too, taking RJ’s Chris Headlam into the Melbourne Hairpin on lap six, after demoting DW’s Tyler too.
As fifth place became a four-car battle, Williams spun at Goddards, which left Gore heading MacLeod, from Lowe and Sven Thompson, with Williams dropping to ninth.
“I was chasing Jason and he braked earlier than I expected, then I locked up and spun,” said Williams.
MacLeod then had an off at the Esses on lap eight, but the safety car was out again with another SR1 in the gravel.
It was down to a two-lap sprint from the green flag, with seven minutes on the clock. The top five were clear again straight away, but Caisley was still pressing for second. He was almost alongside Preen at McLeans, but Rishover and Gore were threatening too.
Chance was clear for his maiden victory, but it was any one from four for second place as they exited Melbourne. Preen was then forced wide at Goddards, so Caisley snatched second, but Rishover and Gore followed before Preen was up to pace again, dropping him to fifth as the red flags brought an early conclusion with another SR1 in the gravel.
“I had the pace from the start but they were difficult early laps and they had to be perfect to pull away. The second safety car didn’t help though,” said Chance.
“I Just braked a bit too late into Goddards, then Ben forced me wide onto the grass as I tried to keep the line,” said Preen.
“When Chris made his mistake I had to maximise the opportunity. I think I pressed him into it, he had been covering the inside everywhere, so I had been trying the outside,” Caisley explained.
“I was catching the lead trio nearly every lap on the Melbourne Loop, but I waited for one to make a mistake and they did finally. The car was quick and it was nice to have a podium,” said Rishover
Lowe completed the top six, from the recovering Lay, with Thompson, Williams and Headlam rounding off the top 10.
Chance was on pole again for race two but was slower away and got swamped by Lay, Caisley and Gore, before retaining fifth. Lowe was off in the Gravel at Redgate and Rishover clashed with Thompson at Coppice, so the safety car was out as they started lap two.
“I lost some momentum out of McLeans and I think it gave Sven a run on me, he went for the inside at Coppice as I turned in and we collided,” said Rishover.
After only one lap under caution it was live again and although Lay got away, Gore was sticking with Caisley for second and Chance was all over Preen for fourth, with Tyler looking on. “I saw Haydn got swamped at the first corner and just managed to drive away from them,” Lay added, putting the final seal on his second consecutive UK Cup title.
Zielonka had been in ninth until he spun at Melbourne, but at the front Lay was still clear, but Chance had upped his pace, taking Preen and Gore on consecutive laps, leaving Preen on Gore’s tail for fourth.
“I expected Haydn to come for me, but then I got Tommi around the outside at Redgate,” Preen explained.
As Chance then started to close in on Caisley, they both ran wide at Redgate on lap 12, into Melbourne a lap later Caisley overshot at Melbourne and Chance was through.
“I could see Haydn closing, I was just trying to focus on keeping him behind me, it was my mistake though, just too late on the brakes,” Caisley admitted.
Lay took his win by 5.7 secs over Chance, with Caisley completing the podium and Preen managed to oust Gore for fourth adown the Craner Curves on lap 13, having taken Redgate side by side.
Williams got past Tyler with five laps to go following Gore to the flag, with MacLeod, Zielonka and Headlam rounding off the top 10. “Mark dive bombed me, but it put me to the edge of the track so I couldn’t try and switchback,” Tyler added.
Caisley was in trouble on the green flag lap of the finale joining Lay as a non-starter, but in the wet conditions it was lap five before the race really got under way, by which time the pitstop window was open. “Neither the ecu or gearbox were working, so I think it was something electrical as it wouldn’t restart,” Caisley explained.
Chance led Preen, with Gore in third after Zielonka spun, but as most drivers pitted together, Thompson had come in too early and was forced to serve a later penalty.
Tyler had stayed out and led until his stop, which handed Thompson the lead from Gore, Chance, Tyler, Williams and Zielonka.
They all moved up when Thompson served his stop go, rejoining fifth, but out in front Chance was reeling in Gore for the lead.
“The 20 seconds success penalty did it for me, as I came out among the SR1’s. I could hardly see and spent the second half just getting through the SR1’s,” said Preen after coming home eighth.
The clock was against race one winner Chance though, as he was still 0.639 secs shy of Gore as they took the flag, with Tyler third.
“We were unlucky at the pitstop, so I was a bit annoyed not to get that win. But after this weekend it feels great, really boosted my confidence,” Chance added.
“The strategy had been perfect, as I had a clear track. Then just held my place as visibility was so bad,” said Tyler.
A last lap mistake at Coppice lost Williams three places too, as Zielonka just held onto fourth from Thompson, with MacLeod in sixth.
“The mistake was at Coppice, but I tried to defend into the Esses, missed my braking point and spun,” Williams admitted.
So another Radical UK season ends with James crowned Champion again, next stop Portimao for the World Finals.