Cutts extends title lead after action-packed Queensland round

Cooper Cutts has taken a significant step forward in his 2025 First Focus Radical Cup Australia title run, winning Round 3 at Queensland Raceway and extending the points gap to Peter Paddon. Paddon finished the round third outright behind Terry Knowles, who celebrated the second-place result on the same day as his wedding anniversary.

In the Challenge Class, Terry Knowles, Mark Cirillo and Dave Allan, and Brad Russell claimed the top three steps of the weekend's podium.

As the halfway point of the season, Round 3 played a pivotal role in shaping the title fight heading into the second half of the year. Cutts (#16 Arise Racing / Terry Cutts) arrived with a 17-point lead over defending champion Paddon, who needed a strong result to maintain momentum.

Paddon (#1 First Focus / GWR) looked to deliver just that, crossing the line first in Saturday’s race but was disqualified due to a post-race technical infringement, dealing a blow to his campaign and elevating Bryce Moore to Race 1 the win.

Cutts also faced setbacks during Race 3 on Sunday, going a lap down after contact with Zig Fuhrmeister (#216 Elec Motorsport) and Chris Reindler (#28 Lance East Exotics) on the opening lap. All three cars went off into the gravel, with Cutts losing a lap.

After two days of persistent rain, Sunday finally brought the weekend’s first dry running, though a brief shower just before Race 2 added a final twist. With limited dry track time up to this point, drivers and teams had to adapt quickly to maximise their performance in the changing conditions.

Race 2 went down to the wire, with the front-runners battling until the final moments. After taking the race lead at Turn 1 on lap one, Paddon also held the lead through two Safety Car restarts – both triggered by recoveries at Turn 1 for Brad Russell (#18 Arise Racing / Liftoff Solutions) and Stephen Champion (#34 Champion's Racing / GWR) – and looked on track for the win while fending off a charging Cutts. With two minutes to go, the leaders had pulled a six-second gap to Fuhrmeister in third, giving them space to fight to the finish.

A well-timed move by Cutts at Turn 3 sealed the deal, sending Paddon back to second. Cutts also set the fastest lap of the race, just two-tenths shy of the new Queensland Raceway Radical lap record (1m09.6090s), which he had set the day before.

At the second restart, Fuhrmeister and Reindler went side-by-side, with Fuhrmeister making a move around the outside for third. Reindler was then left vulnerable to Knowles (#68 Ausnets) but held onto fourth, while Knowles secured fifth for the second time this weekend.

Next across the line were Dave Allan in the #527 Arise Racing entry he shares with Mark Cirillo in sixth, and Peter Clare (#47 Volante Rosso / Shared Runway) in seventh. Jim Hernandez (#23 Volante Rosso / 82One) charged from the back, gaining five positions to finish eighth.

Ibby Hadeed (#222 GWR Australia), Bill Medland (#52 Medland Orthodontics), Sue Hughes (#32 Hughes M'sport / The PPF Studio), and Champion claimed ninth through twelfth, while Russell was the only non-finisher after stripping the gears trying to reverse from the gravel trap early in the race.

The intensity peaked at the start of Race 3, with Cutts and Paddon again sharing the front row. Cutts tried to cover Paddon into Turn 1, but Paddon emerged ahead as Cutts, Reindler, and Fuhrmeister speared off into the gravel. Fuhrmeister rejoined, but Cutts and Reindler needed recovery, prompting the Safety Car. Cutts returned to the track a lap down; Reindler headed to pit lane.

At the restart, Paddon pulled a gap back to Knowles and Cirillo, while Hernandez was the big mover, climbing from 13th to sixth, as Fuhrmeister settled into seventh before retiring with damage.

Starting the race from pit lane, Russell made the most of the first Safety Car intervention to charge through the field, climbing to eighth. In what was arguably the story of the day, the Arise Racing crew worked until the final moments to complete an engine swap on the #18 bubblegum XXR between Races 2 and 3.

Paddon was the first to pit when the Compulsory Pit Stop window opened, with most of the field following soon after. He rejoined second on the road, effectively leading, with Cirillo yet to stop. Cirillo, meanwhile, was setting fastest laps in a bid to build a gap and held out until the end of the window just as rain began to fall.

Once Cirillo pitted, the #527 returned to the track with Dave Allan behind the wheel in the lead. Paddon quickly closed the gap and reclaimed the lead just before a second Safety Car was deployed for a stopped Jim Hernandez.

Behind the lapped #16 of Cutts, Russell, Clare, Knowles and Champion ran four-wide, with Russell working his way to second – where he would finish the race – ahead of Allan.

However, Allan received a 15-second penalty for a pit lane infringement, dropping him to eighth and promoting Knowles to third in the final standings.

Champion and Clare completed the top five, followed by Bill Medland (6th), Ibby Hadeed (7th), Cutts (9th), and Hughes (10th).

The 2025 First Focus Radical Cup Australia Series is heating up, with just two rounds remaining. The series next heads to Sandown International Raceway on 25–27 July as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries. Event schedule, ticketing, and broadcast details will be available soon.