Post-race penalty shakes up results as Moore claims Race 1 win

Update: The #1 First Focus / GWR XXR of Peter Paddon has been disqualified from Race 1 after failing post-race scrutineering due to a technical infringement. As a result, Bryce Moore is awarded the win, with all other competitors moving up one position in the final classification, with Mark Cirillo and Cooper Cutts on the podium.

The battle at the pointy end of the 2025 First Focus Radical Cup Australia Series points went up a notch Saturday at Queensland Raceway, with Peter Paddon taking a commanding lead in the #1 First Focus / GWR XXR during the opening race of the weekend.

The changeable conditions throughout the day kept drivers on their toes, with early morning rain and cloud cover making for tricky, albeit much faster, qualifying conditions than those experienced in Friday’s practice.

Cooper Cutts – who swept Round 2 at Sydney Motorsport Park – started Race 1 from the box seat with points rival Paddon alongside on the front row. Cutts got the jump off the line, seemingly getting the job done on the run into Turn 1, however, it was Paddon who got the better run down the inside of Turn 1 to take the lead, which he kept for the remainder of the race.

Bryce Moore was fastest in Friday practice and qualified fourth, before crossing the finish line in second, ahead of Mark Cirillo in third. Moore lost ground early in the race to Brad Russell, before making his way back through the pack. Cirillo, likewise, had an impressive run, making up seven positions in the #527 Arise Racing entry he shares with Dave Allan.

By lap four, Paddon had stretched his lead over Cutts to more than two seconds, as reports of light rain began to emerge. Cutts methodically worked to close the gap, setting the fastest lap of the race and resetting the track record to 1m09.609s in the process. Cutts attempted an unsuccessful late-race move on Paddon at Turn 3, where light contact between the two saw the Arise Racing / Terry Cutts XXR drop slightly down the order.

Looking to hold on to a podium finish, Cutts found himself caught in the rain that began to fall, relegating the #16 back to fourth, ahead of Brad Russell in fifth. Russell battled with sixth-placed Terry Knowles throughout the race, while Jim Hernandez finished seventh after starting from the back of the pack.

The late-race rain also caused dramas for Zig Fuhrmeister, who was running in third until the final moments when a successful dive bomb by Moore, combined with water on the track, sent the #216 Elec Motorsport entry back to eighth. Stephen Champion, Queenslander Bill Medland, Ibby Hadeed, and Sue Hughes rounded out the field in ninth to twelfth, respectively.

Earlier in the day, a well-timed red flag in qualifying helped to propel Cooper Cutts to his third consecutive pole position for the year – and pole for all three races across the weekend – with a 1m10.4200s in a session where the top spot changed hands a number of times.

The field started on wet weather tyres, where Peter Paddon set the first benchmark time, but it wasn’t long before a dry line started to form and the field dove into pit lane for slicks. Times quickly began to tumble as Bryce Moore and Cooper Cutts each reset the fastest lap before Paddon was again at the top as the first into the 1m10s, but an answering Cutts knocked him off the top step by just two-tenths of a second.

Not to be deterred, Paddon put in two consecutive flying laps, before an unforced spin and a second trip through pit lane to remove a bit of damaged flooring, while Cutts continued to control the session.

Paddon was looking to reclaim provisional pole, however, it wasn’t to be, as Dave Allan went offline on the run into Turn 4 – while on a personal-best lap – burying the #527 in the gravel and triggering the red flag. Time was called with only three minutes left on the clock, confirming Cutts as the pole-sitter and delivering a disappointing end to an otherwise favourable session for Paddon.

Zig Fuhrmeister continued his strong performance from Friday’s wet practice sessions as the fastest AM driver. The Victorian set an impressive 1m11.1390s, besting Chris Reindler, who had taken over from Moore, by half a second back to fourth, while Terry Knowles rounded out the top five with a 1m12.1960s.

Round 3 of the 2025 First Focus Radical Cup Australia Series wraps up tomorrow at Queensland Raceway, running alongside the EVENTelec GT Festival Queensland. Sunday’s schedule features a 25-minute sprint (Race 2) at 11:50am, live on 7plus and free-to-air on 7mate, followed by a 50-minute endurance race (Race 3) at 3:40pm, streamed live on 7plus.