Cutts claims victory while Paddon hangs on to keep title fight alive

COOPER CUTTS converted pole into victory and the fastest lap time (1m50.5989s), narrowly missing the lap record by just 0.08s in the penultimate race of the 2025 First Focus Radical Cup Australia series. 

The Arise Racing / Terry Cutts Racing ace and series points leader heading into Sunday's race set a 24.8-second margin back to Arise Racing stablemate Ruairi Avern in career-best second, with Paddon recovering from an early off to finish third, and further seven seconds adrift. 

Saturday's result sends the title fight down to the wire on Sunday, with 63 points now separating Cutts back to Paddon.

Chris Reindler and Bryce Moore (#28 Lance East Exotics XX) made up six positions from the race start to finish in fourth, ahead of Fuhrmesiter – who was battling back paint that kept him from two of Friday's practice sessions – (#216 Elec Motorsport XXR) in outright fifth and first of the Challenge (AM) class contenders, where the battles were just as fierce for outright and podium class positions. 

Terry Knowles (#68 Ausnets XXR) was running as high as fourth outright early on and looked to finish outright sixth until the final lap saw the #68 run wide and into the gravel, dropping the title contender back to eighth, and allowing Ibby Hadeed (#222 GWR Australia XX) and the Mark Cirillo/Dave Allan #527 Arise Racing RSX through into sixth and seventh. 

Brad Russell likewise had a troubled race, with the #18 Arise Racing/Liftoff Solutions XXR also off the track and down the order from fifth to finish ninth, with the Challenge class points gap closing as a result. Peter Clare (#47 Shared Runway XXR) rounded out the top 10, with Dylan Canto (#8 Edge Motorsport XX) finishing an impressive 11th, with this weekend being the 17-year-old's first time behind the wheel of a race car.

Cutts started from pole, but it was Ruairi Avern who got the jump on both title contenders, with Paddon holding second and Cutts slotting into third as they exited Turn 1. With crucial points on the line, neither rival was willing to give an inch, resulting in Paddon going wide at Turn 17 into the gravel and down the order, rejoining in seventh on lap 2.

When the compulsory pit stop window opened, Paddon was among the first to pit in a bid to escape traffic and recover positions, joined by Knowles, Reindler, Canto, Clare and Jim Hernandez.

The early stop paid off, allowing Paddon to cycle back into fifth, while Cutts retained the race lead and quickly set a 10-second margin back to Avern.

Earlier in the day, Cutts and Paddon again locked out the front row of the grid, continuing their dominant qualifying performances across the season. 

Cutts delivered when it counted, setting the pace early on and then punching out a 1m48.5370s after taking four fresh tyres to deny Paddon a final pole position of the year. Try as he might, Paddon wrapped up the session on the outside of the front row .9481s seconds down.

Avern briefly found himself on the front row before settling into third with a tidy 1m49.7486s.

Only 1.3 seconds covered the field from Avern back to 10th in what was an incredibly competitive session, with placings throughout the top 10 changing hands several times as the clock wound down. 

Knowles and Russell secured fourth and fifth outright, with Knowles taking the Challenge (AM) class pole thanks to a 1m50.1153s. The #28 of Reindler and Moore claimed sixth, just ahead of Fuhrmeiseter in seventh and Cirillo in eighth after taking over from Allan mid-session.

Debutant Canto dipped into the 1m50s to secure ninth, while Hadeed rounded out the top 10.

The 2025 First Focus Radical Cup Australia title all comes down to Sunday's 50-minute endurance race, with another 90 points still on offer. Stream Race 2 live on 7plus from 9.40am ACST.