Radical Track Test - Motorsport News - 7th December 2005

Mighty Radical SR8When I was invited to drive a bunch of Radical sports racers at Donington Park, colleagues invariably responded with a cheery, “Nice track – don’t damage it.” I didn’t. I just had a lot of fun.
The plan was for me to meet up with the former Radical race winner Ian Flux before trying three different cars – the SR4, SR3 and mighty SR8.

Given my limited experience, the majority of the running would be left to Flux with me in the passenger seat (and yes, fitting two into a sportscar is a bit tight), but I was at least guaranteed some running in the least powerful car, the SR4. Quite why an SR4 is slower than an SR3 is beyond us, too.

After an early morning cruise up the M1, I arrived at Donington bleary eyed but raring to go. Strangely, the first person I saw said to me: “Are you Glenn?” I confirmed as much but wasn’t quite sure how he knew.

“I thought so,” he continued, “because you look scared.” I snapped back, “Tired, not scared,” and made my way over to the Radical truck. My inquisitor turned out to be Mick Walker, our photographer.

Once I’d signed on, it was time for Flux to take me round for a few laps in the SR4, so I could get a rough idea about where to brake and downshift. I knew which way the corners went from computer games, but they never quite look the same as rear life. I sat there admiring the scenery as Flux slid us around on the damp track, but when we got out he said “So, what was I doing at each corner?”

Apparently I was supposed to be paying attention, so that I would know what to do when I was in the driver’s seat. After quickly going back over the run in my head, I pretty much remembered what gear he was using for each corner and where he was braking. I’d got away with it, so now it was my turn.

These cars give you such good feedback" - Ian Flux“If you go flat out as soon as we leave the pits I’m getting out,” Flux told me. With that in mind, and the track being damp, I took it very easy for a couple of laps, but it wasn’t long before my confidence grew, and we were nudging the 120mph top speeds the SR4 can achieve at Donington. According to Flux, things felt a lot quicker from the passenger seat. I never expected to be able to push in the tricky conditions, but the car felt so good that I knew I wasn’t anywhere near the limit.

“That’s the good thing about Radicals,” said Flux. “As long as you’ve got some ability you won’t be out of your depth. The main thing you have to learn is just how good the brakes are.”

Radical SR4With three different cars to choose from, Radical racing has its own ladder. The SR4 is a great starting point, and once you feel you want to move into something faster you don’t have to switch to a completely new series and lose the contacts and friends you’ve made in your formative racing years. You can progress into the SR3, which has more power and down force. When you feel you’ve mastered that, the V8-engined SR8 awaits.

I had earned the trust of Flux in the SR4, so he let me have a run in the SR3. Now he felt confident that I wasn’t going to shunt the nice, shiny cars, he started to push me. “The thing with the SR3 is that it has a lot more down force that the SR4, so you can push it a lot harder than you think,” he said. “Whereas you could maybe find another second in the SR4, if you drive the SR3 in the same way you are going to be 5 seconds off the pace.”

I instantly felt confident in the quicker car and didn’t get flustered when the back end twitched through some of the faster corners. It all seems very easy to correct. “The great thing about driving these cars is that they give you such good feedback,” said Flux. “You feel like you can really lean on them, and even if it starts to go wrong you know you can catch it.”

Radical by name, these hard-nosed racers are a docile delight.“One of the signs of a bad car is that you don’t know that it’s going wrong until its too late. It doesn’t matter who you are, you’re not going to be quick in a car like that.” We hadn’t agreed any kind of formal communication while out on the track, but after a couple of laps in the SR3 Flux began to gesticulate quite a lot – and it all seemed to make good sense. As we approached the braking zones he was pointing forwards, telling me to brake later and later, and mid-corner he was telling me when to get on the power. Simple and a much better way of being taught than looking at lots of different pieces of paper smeared with corner diagrams.

We were testing the 2006-spec cars, but there was an older SR3 being driven by someone else on the day and Flux was asked to help out with some problems that had afflicted its driver.

“The great thing about having the older car to drive as well was that it showed me what a huge step forward the new package is,” said Flux. “You feel the main difference in the high-speed corners. With the new car, you feel as though you can do no wrong.”

As if the SR3 wasn’t fast enough- even I flirted with the 135mph – we still had the awesome SR8to try, although I was only going to get a passenger ride in the 160mph beast. (It can only reach 155mph on Donington Park’s relatively short straights).

“You really have to push the SR8 to get it working,” said Flux, “And you know it’s working when you feel the strain on your neck muscles.” With my neck just about intact, I was allowed to have a solo run in the SR4. The track had dried by now but, unfortunately, I didn’t get to go out on a brand-new set of slicks. Special thanks must go Mick Butler of Dunlop, who provided us with new plenty of new rubber on the day. Thanks to the changeable conditions, we worked our way through most of it.

By the end of the day my total Radical experience still amounted to fewer than 30 laps, but Flux offered generous encouragement. “Given your lack of experience I was impressed with how quickly you got up to speed,” he said, after greeting me with applause as I came back down the pit lane. “We were listening as you went out of Craner Curves and it sounded like you were pretty much there.”

This simply proves that the SR4 is a fantastic car with which to start racing. It makes you feel at home very quickly and I only wish I had been able to drive all day to get a really good feel for it.

“Donington Park is still standing is it?” asked colleagues who had given me all that ‘advice’ beforehand. Indeed so – and almost as tall as the Radicals had made me feel.

Latest Radical News Menu
Back | Home | ^Top of Page