Fantastic inaugural race for Radical SR9 but no cigar! - Monday 10th April 2006

Joao Barbosa - Radical SR9
Joao Barbosa - Radical SR9
The Istanbul race would be the first time the Radical SR9 ran for more than 10 consecutive laps. Both Radical and Rollcentre Racing looked at the race as part of the SR9's belated pre-season test, but a near fairytale finish left Rollcentre boss Martin Short speechless (a very rare occurence!)

Friday practice saw Martin Short top the P2 time sheets with a 1:46.1, over two seconds clear of the RML Lola, and fourth quickest overall.

Saturday saw times drop to 1:43.1, still two seconds quicker than Tommy Erdos in the Lola, and third quickest overall.

Qualifying, and the team struggled to get heat into the tyres, but second in class, and seventh overall was still impressive for the new SR9

Come race day, a wet track saw the SR9 back in the top P2 spot, and fourth fastest overall in warm-up. The race saw close action from the start with Tommy Erdos spearing off into the pit wall. Barbosa took the first stint and steadily picked off P2 and P1 cars alike, putting fastest lap after fastest lap.

Just as Barbosa was about to add the Pescarolo's scalp to his collection, disaster struck, and the throttle stuck open. Several minutes delay in getting to the pits and time spent fixing the problem sent the Rollcentre car back to the wrong end of the grid, undoing all Barbosa's good work.

Back out on his second stint, the SR9's second problem was about to strike. As the SR9 charged back through the field, a chafed wiring loom showed it's ugly head, when the power assistance for the steering packed up.

Tim Greaves - Radical SR9
Tim Greaves - Radical SR9
Not to be put off, Barbosa was up to fourth by the two-hour mark, putting in times that were only beaten by the Pescarolo C60, and then by less than a second. About this time, the organisers announced that they did not have enough fuel for all the cars to finish the scheduled distance, and so they shortened the race to four hours (ten minutes too long for the SR9 as it turns out).

Not the quickest of driver changes saw Martin Short hold station and keep the SR9 in fourth place overall, and had no problem coping with the car's lack of power steering. On the three hour mark, Tim Greaves took over, and managed to get past the Lister Storm P1 car. We were lying in third, on the podium and only ten minutes to go.

Martin Short - Radical SR9
Martin Short - Radical SR9
But the fat lady was not about to sing, and the chafed cable bit deeper, this time setting off the fire extinguisher. Tim understandably was expecting the worst, and abandoned ship. The fairytale was not to be. That's motorsport, as they say, but when a commentator from Motors TV stuck a microphone under Martin Short's nose, his expression and silence said it all.

Radical co-founder, Phil Abbott was more circumspect, "We got the fastest P2 race lap, fourth fastest overall race lap, and all the drivers reported that the car was fantastic and easy to drive, even with no power assistance. There is a lot more to come from this car, we have proven that we are a force to be reckoned with."

Official race results are available at www.lmes.net
more news & photos available at www.DailySportscar.com


Radical SR9 - LMS 1000km - Istanbul, Turkey - April 2006
Radical SR9 - LMS 1000km - Istanbul, Turkey - April 2006
Radical SR9 - LMS 1000km - Istanbul, Turkey - April 2006
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