DW Racing delivers measurable gains with Radical Club Challenge drivers at Silverstone

There was a noticeable surge of confidence for Lebanon’s Stephanie Hobeika during a “learning weekend” in the Radical Club Challenge presented by 750 Motor Club on the Silverstone International circuit (15-16 August).

Hobeika qualified fifth in Class C for both Radical races at ‘The Home of British Motor Racing’, despite having her final flying lap ruined by a high-speed pirouette at the flat-out left-hander, Farm.

A loss of downforce as a quicker Radical SR3 swept by resulted in a 360-degree spin that left her with severely flat-spotted Hankooks and forced DW Racing to revert back to used tyres from an earlier outing at Snetterton.

Although it was felt the old rubber would afford less grip and could impact her race pace, Hobeika’s quick reactions propelled her ahead of the #37 machine of Scott Lear as the field surged towards Abbey at the start of race one.

Unfortunately, Lear found an opening on the third pass through Vale and Hobeika then had a relatively lonely run to a fourth-place result, overcoming a vibration that became more prevalent during the latter half of the 25-minute contest.

Hobeika also started the second Radical Club Challenge race strongly, but there was a shuffling of the order when Vikram Sudera had an off in the #66 car shortly before she ran wide at Abbey on lap three.

The Lebanon-born racer maintained fourth but suffered a loss of momentum while detached from her class rivals, until the Safety Car intervened on lap 11.

Although the field was tightly bunched, a punchy restart by the outright race leader caused the field to spread quickly and prevented Hobeika from challenging for a podium result, with faster Class A and B contenders buzzing around in her immediate vicinity.

Nevertheless, she concluded a valuable “learning weekend” on a high note by recording a personal best (1m10.486s) on her very last lap of Silverstone International, having implemented teachings from DW Racing’s professional driver coach.

”I think this latest Radical Club Challenge presented by 750 Motor Club round on Silverstone International has been more of a learning weekend than anything,” said Hobeika. “Some knockbacks have meant I had to work my way through and the results haven’t been the best.

“Qualifying was going ok until I span and flat-spotted my tyres. We had to put on old tyres from Snetterton that had smaller flat spot and the car vibrated quite a lot in the first race. I had a much better start to the second race but had a bit of an off at Abbey on lap three, which knocked my confidence. I was much better by the end of the race and recorded a personal best lap time, which is some consolation.”

DW Racing saw a measurable improvement in John Davis’s pace and racecraft during the latest round of the Radical Club Challenge presented by 750 Motor Club on the Silverstone International circuit (15-16 August).

The Welwyn Garden City-domiciled driver unlocked chunks of grip and confidence by pushing his Radical SR3 RSX’s aerodynamic capabilities on Silverstone’s high-speed confines to record personal best lap times and pull off textbook overtakes in the races.

Friday testing served as an opportunity to dial himself in after a two-month hiatus from competition, and he took a sizeable leap forward in the final session of the day simply by pushing harder through Silverstone’s rapid changes of direction.

However, time was left on the table in Qualifying, as Davis placed eighth in Class B but had top-five potential if he had stitched together his best sectors.

At the start of race one, Davis spotted an opportunity to slice through the centre of the pack under braking for Village and came out ahead of the #30 SR3 RS of Mark Grason.

The positions were reversed the next time around, but Davis recorded personal bests in the 1m07s and the gap between him and Grason hovered around three tenths of a second, while Ian McDonald in the #13 car clung onto his coattails.

There were a few concerted passing attempts, especially through the Abbey, Farm and Village complex of corners, but sixth position went Davis’s way when Grason was wrongfooted while being lapped by the overall race leaders.

In a repeat of race one, Davis traded places with Grason on the opening lap and loomed large in the #30 machine’s rear-view mirrors for much of the second Radical Club Challenge contest.

However, Davis surprised himself by executing a stunning overtake as he and Grason negotiated Club Chicane soon after a Safety Car restart, switching underneath his opponent at the second apex.

Once free, the DW Racing driver immediately recorded new personal best lap times that were comparable to those directly ahead of him on the road, but the top six Class B contenders were out of his reach and he instead came home to a respectable P7 finish.

“I got progressively faster over the course of the Radical Club Challenge weekend at Silverstone just by listening to and implementing what DW Racing told me to do,” said Davis. “There have been some big strides forward, particularly when it comes to trusting my Radical SR3 RSX through high-speed corners. Your brain tells you certain things aren’t possible, but you realise the car is more than capable and you go much quicker when you start to use the aerodynamic performance.

“I grabbed the bull by the horns on this occasion and it paid dividends. There were also some really great on-track battles, especially with Mark Grason, but the fact I dropped him quickly after passing in race two shows I was capable of much more.”