Radical's new entry-level track car is a fun route into racing
Radical is on the up. We all know about the marque, and we all know of its aerodynamics-led track car lineup. But in the past couple of years the company has been making all sorts of interesting moves to broaden its appeal. First, with the road-legal SR3 SL, and now with an entrant to the ‘budget’ racing scene (in relative terms), in the shape of the SR1.
The SR1 series is a bit different to those similarly priced championships in that you have to be a novice by MSA standards – as in, less than six completed races to your name. Nor do you have to be a complete motorsport virgin as you do for the Caterham Academy, the Radical SR1 series’ closest equivalent.
The package sets you back £37,500, which buys you the race-ready car, a race suit, your racing licence if you need it, two instruction days and eight competitive races. Which still seems remarkably expensive to most of us for a car that can’t be driven on the road, but in motorsport terms it’s a bargain.
And the car doesn’t disappoint, either. It’s an odd experience when you’re used to driving fast road cars on track, to get behind the wheel of something that gets so much of its traction from aerodynamic downforce. I discovered this when I drove the SR3 when it came out, and I found it again when I had a go at putting in some decent times in the Suzuki 1340cc bike-engined SR1.
Weighing just 480kg, and putting out 185bhp, it still delivers lung-squeezing, slightly hairy pace if you really want it to. Enough that some novices might find it a little intimidating at first. But it takes very little time to discover that this is a remarkably accessible thing on track, and one that allows plenty of room for error without spitting your nomex-clad behind through the tyre wall.
It’s a great thing to learn in, and I imagine will be a fantastic thing to race. It seems to be just the right package, with only four weekends taken up by the racing throughout the year. So nothing too life-consuming. If you have the sort of cash in question, this is a fun way to bag yourself a properly thrilling track car and a fast track route into racing.