THIS PROVIDE TO BE A BIG PROBLEM AS THE SR8 HITS A TOP SPEED OF 285KPH ON THE MAIN STRAIGHT

After coming so close to winning last year’s Gulf Radical Cup I had the whole summer to think about what to do for the upcoming race season. I briefly flirted with the idea of entering the DAMC touring car championship and its ever expanding grid, but to be honest I quickly ruled that out as a tin top can never replace the rush I get from racing a Radical. I would miss the extreme cornering forces and ultra late braking way too much. So, that was that, I would be doing another season of Radical racing. Now I had another dilemma, SR3 or SR8? I have raced SR3’s for 2 and a half seasons now and have enjoyed them tremendously, but towards the end of last season there were a couple of SR8’s on the grid that were becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with, namely that of Khaleeji motorsport driver Cabell Fisher who won the final 2 rounds of last season in convincing fashion. Also during the off season I received the news that there would be a few more SR8’s on the grid this season. Combine that with the desire to move up to a faster, more challenging car to drive and I ended up taking the plunge and ordering The Carbon Creation part deux. For those of you that don’t know the SR8 is pretty much the same chassis as the SR3, but now uses a 380 bhp 2.6 Litre V8  instead of the 252 bhp 4 cylinder motorcycle engine that powered the SR3. Weight is also up by around 100 kg to a still pretty lightweight 650 kg. The downforce of the SR8 is also vastly increased over the SR3 because of improved aerodynamics, mainly due to a larger rear wing and diffuser as well as the F1 style raised nose.

Due to my late decision to go with the SR8 I ended up with very little testing time prior to the first national race day late last month, the car arriving with only a couple of days to spare. In the brief test session the day prior to the first race my initial impressions of the car were that it felt completely different from the SR3. Gone was the delicate nature of the SR3’s motor bike gearbox replaced by the heavy shift of the sequential Quaife racing gearbox. The steering also feels more direct and heavily weighted. In addition the exhaust note of the SR8 is far louder and more brutal, accompanied by a cacophony of pops and bangs every time I come off the throttle. The biggest adjustment though has to be the braking, although it’s probably not what you were expecting, as in the SR8 I must break far earlier than in the SR3. This is due to the combination of the extra weight and the fact that I am now arriving at corners a hell of a lot quicker, because of the extra power. To be honest it’s been a bit of a struggle as my eyes and mind are telling me to brake later, but the car can’t handle it. All in all the SR8 requires a different driving style, a bit more of a point and squirt approach compared to the SR3 where the lack of power made maintaining momentum the biggest priority. Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention the power! The difference in acceleration between the two cars is huge, the SR8 achieving a top speed on the main straight almost 30 kph higher than the SR3. The abundance of power and torque has strangely made the SR8 easier to drive, as when the car gets out of shape it is much easier to steer on the throttle and straighten the rear end. The other adjustment has been in cornering, while the SR8 has massive grip due to the extra downforce, it also doesn’t change direction as willingly as the SR3 and is not as nimble through tighter corners due to the extra weight of the bigger engine and gear box hanging over the rear axle.  When you turn the steering wheel you feel the front end bite but then you have to wait for the heavy rear end to settle before planting the throttle. Of course this is all relatively speaking, the SR8 still changes direction incredibly well, it’s just a fraction slower than the SR3. Overall though the SR8 is significantly quicker than SR3, anywhere from 2 to 4 seconds per lap depending on the nature of the circuit we are on.

Since the arrival of the car I have raced 6 times with mixed results in a hectic start to the season. Round One saw me starting comfortably on pole and immediately jumping out to a commanding early lead, only for me to suffer a puncture that forced me to park the car. Not exactly a dream start to the season. As a result of my DNF I started Round Two at the back of the grid, but within 8 hard fought laps I found myself at the front and went on to take my first victory of the season.  Rounds 3 and 4 saw us leaving the Dubai Autodrome and heading to Bahrain in support of the awesome spectacle that is the Aussie V8 supercars. Funnily enough my qualifying time ended up being the fastest lap of the weekend, over 2 seconds quicker than the fastest V8 supercar, which I have to say was very satisfying. My race results unfortunately were not so satisfying, as after taking the lead in the first race I began to struggle with an extremely soft brake pedal, as the Bahrain International Circuit is notoriously tough on brakes. This proved to be a big problem as the SR8 hits a top speed of 285 kph on the long main straight. My lack of stopping power led to my losing the lead to Radical European Masters Champion John Stanley and settling for 2nd place. The second race of the weekend ended in similar fashion although this time I dropped to 3rd behind both Stanley and Fisher after a big spin when I missed a downshift and locked my rear wheels. Back in Dubai for the motorsport festival and this time the results were much better, back on familiar ground I was able to dominate the weekend with fastest lap in every session and two pole to flags victories in comfortable fashion.  While I have had mixed results over the early rounds I am very encouraged by my pace in the new SR8 and hope that I can finally translate it into that elusive championship.