Sandown return in key moment for Radical title fight

ONE-MAKE Radical Sportscar competition will return to Melbourne’s famous Sandown International Raceway for the first time since 2018 this weekend, as the First Focus Radical Cup Australia charges toward the business end of the 2025 season.

The fourth round of five scheduled will see the field compete at Sandown for the first time in its current format, in what is shaping as perhaps the most critical round of the season as drivers battle for an advantage prior to The Bend’s season finale’ in September.

The First Focus Radical Cup Australia joins the Shannons SpeedSeries for a winter festival of motorsport by returning to sprint racing mode with four, 25-minute heats scheduled this weekend.

As well as the ongoing title battle the addition of a quick wildcard entry could also upset the applecart this weekend.

The penultimate event on the calendar feels like a potential tipping point in the season-long battle between leader Cooper Cutts (Arise Racing) and Peter Paddon (GWR), which has been on since the first race of the year.

Success last time out at Queensland Raceway saw Cutts’ extend his lead to 39 points – the largest of the season to date - while a zero-score in one race proved costly for the defending champion Paddon.

Likely to join the outright fight will be fast rising star, Mason Harvey.

The second-generation racer from Perth links up with Arise Racing for his Radical debut this weekend.

Harvey currently sits third in the Aussie Racing Cars championship following three rounds and earlier this year claimed his first race and round victories in the competitive class.

In his first competitive event behind the wheel of a Radical SR3, Harvey also claimed two race wins and finished second overall in the recent State championship Radical event at Wanneroo Raceway, trailing only RCA regular Bryce Moore in the overall round standings.

The battle is also on for third, fourth and fifth in the series’ standings with Perth-based duo Chris Reindler and Bryce Moore looking to retain their spot on the podium ahead of a chasing pack that includes Arise Racing teammate Brad Russell, and Ausnets driver Terry Knowles.

Racing solo for the first time this year, Knowles heads to Sandown fresh off the back of a stirring podium at Queensland Raceway, where he finished second outright.

Russell and Knowles are also engaged in a battle for the lead in the Masters class.

The stout Sandown field includes all the usual faces in a round that could be the most wide-open of the year to date given the lack of recent racing miles – and opportunities to test – at the bumpy and undulating 3.2km circuit in Melbourne’s inner South East.

Of the field entered this weekend, only three drivers – Peter Paddon, Sue Hughes and Volante Rosso’s Peter Clare – have Radical experience at the venue.

Of them, Paddon has the most success – claiming two victories in 2015 and 2017 – while Hughes and Clare also competed most recently in 2017.

That means making their respective Sandown debuts will be Cutts, Russell, Ruari Avern, Reindler & Moore and Mark Cirillo and Dave Allan for Arise Racing, Stephen Champion (GWR), Jim Hernandes aboard his Volante Rosso Motorsport entry and Terry Knowles.

The Radical SR3 lap records at Sandown are held by British ace James Winslow, who set both the Qualifying (1m11.8149s) and Race (1m12.8695s) benchmarks back in 2017.

The First Focus Radical Cup Australia field will revert to sprint racing form this weekend with four short and sharp races scheduled for the Shannons SpeedSeires event.

Following practice on Friday, Qualifying and two races will be held on a jam-packed Saturday schedule, with two further sprint races set to conclude the round on Sunday.

All weekend sessions will be broadcast live on 7plus, while Races 2 and 4 will also be shown in the free-to-air window on 7mate this weekend.