After the Radical Cup UK supported the British Touring Car Championship for its last two weekends of racing, the series is now back in action at a Silverstone MotorSport Vision Racing event.
With championship leader Daryl DeLeon having now stepped up to the BTCC, defending Radical Cup UK champion James Lay will be the favourite for the weekend's triple-header in his Doris Motorsport SR3 RSX.
Lay is currently seven points behind DeLeon, with six wins to DeLeon’s four, but DW Racing’s Ben Caisley will be keen to add to his victory at Brands Hatch. Caisley has had eight other podium finishes, but is currently third in the championship, 48 points behind Lay.
Former Radical Cup Gulf champion, Abdelmajeed Khateeb - who has previously raced in Formula Renault, F3 and A1GP - entered the series this season and was a surprise winner at Oulton Park last time out, having switched camps to the multi-championship-winning Raw Motorsports.
The pair of Radical champions will be joined by Canadian Austin Riley, 2021 Radical Cup Canada and 2022 Radical Cup North America title winner.
This weekend he will be piloting the latest generation SR3 XXR and makes his British debut just two weeks after clinching two podiums on the streets of his hometown Toronto alongside the IndyCar series.
As a Hagerty-sponsored driver, Riley is the first race car driver with autism to win a major championship.
A fourth champion joining the grid is World Superbike conqueror and former MotoGP rider, Sylvain Guintoli, racing with North Motorsport in another SR3 XXR.
Guintoli has set his sights on contesting the Le Mans 24 Hours and becoming the first person to win both the two-wheel and four-wheel versions of the French endurance classic, having already won on two wheels in 2021.
In the PRO SR1 class, Theo Micouris heads into this penultimate weekend with a comfortable lead in the SR1 Championship. The Motorsport UK Academy driver has six wins under his belt already, but has only been lower than second once and that was at Oulton.
Micouris' nearest rival for the title is still GT racer Tom Wood, who - with five wins in the University of Derby car - has a 13-point cushion over DW’s Oscar Joyce.
Making up the 16-strong SR1 grid this weekend will be the first SR1 XXR to leave the Cambridgeshire factory, featuring the ‘XXR treatment’ - including the latest generation 1340cc power unit from Radical’s own bespoke engine facility.
James Pinkerton, Radical Motorsport’s head of research and development and double SR1 Cup champion, said: “The SR1 will always be special to me, as I’ve witnessed first-hand how approachable it is for drivers wanting to take the step up in their racing careers.
“When developing the fifth-generation RPE engine, we wanted to optimise its potential as much as possible, whilst staying true to what makes the SR1 so user-friendly.
“Although the entry-level racer, the SR1 XXR offers an outstanding package with unparalleled performance for the money, that will get you on the grid in a professionally-administered race series.”
Lead photo by Sprite Photography
