Radicals

[JNWRF01]

Advice/opinions needed on the Clubsport and Prosport champs - good value/decent driving standards/parts bills etc etc? Any advice is helpful. Thanks

[Bob Pearson]

I've been told by people within the formula that parts are expensive. That's always a danger when they are single sourced.

[gttouring]

that being said- I here the radicals are a terrific way to run however as good close racing is the order of the day.
have you thought of these to run? http://www.diasio.com
I have a firend with one of these, and roof on top gets a little warm but man it is so fun, also every car has a second seat option as it is left hand drive verus the radicals single position

[Simon S]

The scary bit with Radicalls is that they are not really a good place for novices to start, and the serise is full of them!

They are too fast for novice drivers (IMHO)

also, the costs to run comepetitvly are way out of most peoples budget, a freinnd with an SR3 reconed on £6-8K a weekend (before damages)!

[Bob Pearson]

6-8K a weekend??? Surely that must be running with a top team for the cost of a double header.

[Piglet]

When i saw Radicals a while ago they ran four races of (IIRC) 43 laps each over a race weekend - not heats and finals four individual races. The cost of that must add up whatever team a driver drives for.

[Bostik]

The Clubsport (BiDuro) activity is significantly different from the Prosport / SR3 (Enduro) with regard to cost.
The BiDuro series is probably at the high quality / high cost end of competitive non-promoted 'club' racing. A 30 minute test, 15 minute qualifying and two 45km races is £400. A well maintained second hand Clubsport goes for approx £12-£15k. Assuming you are a DIY type (i.e. look after your own car)you would probably need about £1200 per event to cover entry fees(£400), a set of Avon slicks (£470), race fuel, oil, brake pads, chain etc. The big variables are in any additional testing, the cost of your race transport, prep/maintenance and any repairs!
The Enduro series attracts the really well-funded - much more track time - but two drivers can share all the costs - say, a £40k SR3 and a min of £3k per event - plus testing!
As for driving - both series attact serious racers - so there is no chance of 'pot hunting'. Ros Kaiser, a 21 year old with a seriously impressive F.Ford, F4, National Karting background is not a pushover in the BiDuro series - which attracts the likes of ex F1 driver, Martin Donnelly.
The Enduro series attracts a number of well funded semi-pro expert racers like Nigel Greensal and Michael Vergers, and even they get beaten by some of the very talented regulars.
There is a huge spares truck at each meeting, so you never have to waste your weekend because you broke something - you can nearly always fix a broken car. Spares aren't cheap - but you can expect them to be available at that critical point.
National B only - so always a mix of experienced and novice drivers - full grids - and a seriously competitive series for both. By the way, all the pricing / regs is on their website at www.radicalmotorsport.com

[JNWRF01]

does anyone know of any teams that hire out cars (phone numbers/websites)...tks

[Bostik]

JNWRF01 - suggest you ask Amanda Abbott on 01733 331616 - she knows all the teams.

[nigel greensall]

For either novice or experienced drivers the Radical series are without doubt the best sportscar series around at the moment !

Having raced in the enduro series since the very first event at Mallory Park in 2000,i have enjoyed some of the most competitive racing at the best circuits in Europe (spa,dijon,zolder,val de vienne,nurburgring,anderstorp etc) and find the cars are the most fun to drive of all the cars i have raced.
For the less experienced the clubsports provide great experience and you will find the Radical paddock friendly and helpfull.
As for hiring cars there are a number of teams with SR3,Prosport and Clubsport cars available,it is worth testing each before racing.

The Brands GP weekend was great fun,super circuit and thanks to all the marshalls for their efforts.

Nigel
www.nigelgreensall.com

[Andrew Kitson]

Hi Nigel !

Great to see you here and welcome to Ten-Tenths. Hope to catch up with you again soon.
Cheers
Andrew.

[Bob Pearson]

Nigel,
I was interested to read your comments, coming as they do from the inside. I'm single seater through and through, so have no firm opinions on this kind of racing, but like most old hands I have an interest in anything that is being raced. I wanted to ask you if you knew much about the National Supersport cars, we often share the track on test days with them and sometimes the faster radicals. The Supersports look pretty sharp to me when we are all on track, as do the bigger classes of radicals. However the Supersports seem to have more advanced chassis and suspension than Radicals and they use that wonderful old Vauxhall workhorse. These are the views of the casual outsider of course, have you driven a Supersport? do you have any opinions, more informed than my own?

[ss_collins]

In a radical do the drivers feet sit in front of the centre line of the front wheels?

[Stephen Green]

Welcome to Ten-Tenths Nigel and great to see you racing last weekend at Brands. Used to have great times watching you in the Tyrrell.

[mbvv]

radical is bringing out another sportscar, the sr4 to replace ? the clubsport. where is the logic in investing in a radical if each year they come out with something else
clubsport - prosport - sr3 (supposed to race in the spa 1000k) - introsport - sr4
the sr3 is still not as quick as the prosport
stability is the key - sports 2000 seems to be a good and healthy series

[TomS]

I agree with you mbvv on that Sports 2000 is a good series. There are good cars on the market from reasonably cheap prices (£8000) that are still front running cars in the right hands. Its also great for the novice because the chances are there is somebody to race you all of the way down the field. Also with drivers like Matt Manderson, Nik Johnson and Anthony Wilds its no pushover at the top either!!!

[nigel greensall]

Many thanks for the warm welcome! This is a great site!

The drivers feet in the Radicals are behimd the centre line of the front wheels with the crash box extending beyond the front of the chassis.
Having unfortunately experienced the occasional accident in a Radical,I can confirm that they are extremely strong and safe.
Having read about the SR4 I understand that this is to join the Clubsport series as per the SR3 joining the Prosports. In terms of speed, the SR3 is faster than the Prosport having driven both and overlaid the data. So if you want the fastest Radical, you need to buy an SR3.
The Sports 2000 class is a very good class but the lap times are similar to Clubsports and considerably slower than the Prosport and SR3. As for used cars, you might like to know that the chassis I won with at Brands Hatch is a 3 year old car! If any of you guys are at a race meeting, do come and say hello.

Nigel

[Bostik]

To illustrate Nigel's point, at Brands last weekend, he was on pole in the Radical Enduro at 1.27.511 - and Michael Vergers was on pole in the Radical BiDuro at 1.31.346.

Matt Manderson was on pole in the Pro Sports 2000 at 1.32.047, and Anthony Wilds was on pole in the Sports 2000 at 1.34.831.

But they are both great classes - and clearly, sports racing cars are very popular, with some 54 Radicals and 46 Sports 2000s at Brands.
The interesting point for me was the gorgeous Ferrari 360 Modena on pole in the 19 car Pirelli Maranello Ferrari Challenge - on 1.33.787 - some 6.276 seconds a lap slower than a Radical.
Value for money?

[JustinDawkins]

Someone told me that an SR3 isn't too far off the pace of an F3 car, is this true?