The Performance Direct Radical SR3 Challenge hits Brands Hatch this weekend

The UK’s fastest one-make racing series comes to Brands Hatch again this weekend, and with championship leader Bradley Smith winning four-from-four so far, the rest of the field will be racing on maximum attack to grab back some precious points. Every Radical SR3 racecar is set to the same performance levels in this series – 0-60mph in 3.1 seconds and 155mph – so all the drivers have the high performance tools to win races. It’s going to be a battle.

Let’s look at the specs of these Performance Direct Radical SR3 Challenge cars first. Not only do they look like fugitives from a Le Mans race, they have the technical specification and aerodynamics to back up their razor styling.

Compact in size – 4.10m long, 1.79m wide and 1.04m tall – and weighing just 570kg, these Radical SR3 racecars can blast to 100mph in just 5.3 seconds, with braking and cornering G’s at 2.0 and 2.5G’s, respectively. These are serious racecar numbers.

Under the curving, downforcing, 6-piece lightweight fibreglass bodywork is a 2-seat, powder-coated carbon steel spaceframe chassis with an integral safety cell. The driver enjoys a carbon-composite dash surround, a quick-release steering wheel and a Radical display unit incorporating an LED analogue rev counter, gear indicator, shift light, and four LCD displays of engine parameters, speed and warning lights.

Backing up this race-ready exterior and interior design is a Powertec 1340cc, 4-cylinder, double overhead cam engine, with a dry sump with remote oil reservoir, and separate oil cooler. Performance for this compact motor is anything but small, with 210bhp and 130ft/Ibs of torque available at a spine-tingling 10,500rpm. With performance credentials like these, it’s no wonder it’s a packed and high-pace field for the Performance Direct Radical SR3 Challenge.

This is the second outing to Brands Hatch this year and the competition will have to go hard after championship leader Bradley Smith. Four races in, Smith has won all of them and the Billericay-based racer enjoys Brands as his home circuit.

Saturday will also see the start of something big. The inaugural Radical SR1 Cup kicks off with a packed field of drivers, who for most of them will be lining up on the grid for the very first time, hopefully not too close as series title sponsors Performance Direct Insurance will be insuring half of the racing grid – we’d rather they just do the racing, and not the rubbing!

Included in this line up is Sir Chris Hoy, who has recently retired from track cycling after an incredible career and Summer during the London 2012 Olympics, where he won two gold medals in spectacular style bringing his total haul to six golds. Lets see how he does on the racing track!!

We are excited to see who wins the first ever SR1 cup race – will it be a first timer? – Who knows! One thing’s for sure though, there will be plenty of action on the track this weekend, these races are not to be missed!

By Dan Anslow

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