DW Racing takes unexpected podiums with racing returnee Spooner in Radical Club Challenge finale

A lastminute addition to the grid, DW Racing’s Alex Spooner fought to a brace of podium finishes on his return to competition in the final round of the 2025 Radical Club Challenge presented by 750 Motor Club at Donington Park (Saturday 11 October).

DW Racing managed to source a showroom-fresh Radical SR1 XXR and lodge an entry for Spooner moments before the start of Qualifying early on Saturday morning.

As Spooner hadn’t turned a wheel in testing, there was no time for the team to apply a competitive setup, so the British driver simply used the 15-minute Qualifying session to get acquainted with his brand new sports-prototype.

He qualified 29th overall and eighth in Class C on a bumper 31-car grid – the largest Radical Club Challenge entry of the season – and he did well to survive a busy first lap that featured a red flag-inducing first-corner collision.

Spooner had a great deal of forward momentum at the Safety Car restart, trading places with Phil Waite in the #21 machine before getting the better of DW Racing teammate Stephanie Hobeika.

He proceeded to drop Waite and then made light work of passing the fourth-placed #66 car of Vikram Sudera, and while the podium places looked out of reach, he was promoted to third once post-race penalties and disqualifications were enforced.

From sixth on the race two grid, Spooner spent the initial green flag laps trading places with the #45 car of George Knutton – his chief foe during his last full season of competition in the 2023 Radical Cup UK.

The hard-charging Knutton prised open the door under braking for Goddards but later bailed for pit lane, releasing Spooner to join the simmering fight for third involving race one sparring partners Waite and Sudera.

Both were fading in his rear-view mirrors by the tenth tour of the 2.49-mile Donington Park Grand Prix circuit, and he was able to simply consolidate another very welcome third-place result.

“My day competing in the final round of the 2025 Radical Club Challenge presented by 750 Motor Club was a rollercoaster,” said Spooner. “I woke up still undecided as to whether or not I would race, then there was a lot of waiting around while DW Racing sourced a car. My first runout in Qualifying was really a reinitiation in a Radical sports-prototype and, because I hadn’t been in a car for two and a half years, it took some getting used to. I benefited from penalties and disqualifications to end up on the race one podium, but it all felt quite natural and comfortable in race two.

“I made my way through the field, had some great tussles with Finlay (Williams) that were reminiscent of my races with his dad, Mark (Williams). We were part of some fantastic battle packs where everybody raced fairly and gave room. I managed the gap during the last quarter, not pushing too hard knowing there was a big deficit to those ahead and no threat from behind. It was one of the best races I have ever had.”

Spooner added: “DW Racing was fantastic. To source the car 15 minutes before Qualifying and then get the setup close to where I like it in the interval between races is amazing. I’d say the car is already 80 per cent there.”

Finlay Williams made an impression by racing cleanly and competitively for a respectable finishing position on his first ever race weekend in the 2025 Radical Club Challenge presented by 750 Motor Club at Donington Park (Saturday 11 October).

The Scottish rookie enjoyed five days of testing with the benefit of DW Racing’s professional driver coaching and expert engineering in readiness for his maiden competitive outing at the historic East Midlands venue.

A super enthusiastic Williams picked up fourth position at the expense of Scott Lear in the #37 SR1 on the very first racing lap of his career, which was disturbed by a Safety Car that transitioned into a red flag stoppage.

The Edinburgh-based driver subsequently restarted under the rear wings of both the #45 and #50 entries of George and Darren Knutton, who held second and third positions in Class C respectively.

However, the prospect of achieving a podium finish on debut got the better of Williams, as he pushed too hard and backed the #18 Radical SR1 into the Redgate gravel on the second racing lap.

Keen to make amends in the final race of the 2025 season, the Scot gained two places in a strong start and headed a six-car tussle that included all three of his DW Racing teammates, Spooner, Stephanie Hobeika and John Davis.

A staunch defence kept Spooner and George Knutton at bay until lap four of the 2.49-mile Donington Park Grand Prix track, building confidence, pushing himself under braking and improving his awareness with multiple cars buzzing around him.

The rookie racer ultimately span out of the pack at the Melbourne Hairpin and finished seventh, and he reflected on the experience by saying: “My first ever race weekend has been awesome. I had a few spins but enjoyed working through those mistakes, and the feeling of being in the car and battling so many other drivers was epic.

“DW Racing was great from start-to-finish and I didn’t think I could feel any better, but the whole experience was improved further by the late arrival of our family friend, Alex (Spooner). I was gutted to lose a potential podium finish in race one, but you live, you learn and I’m raring to keep going now. The spins in both races knocked my confidence a bit, but the second one put me back in the pack and made it ten times more fun. I headed six cars at one point and I honestly stopped caring about my finishing position, because the battling was the best part. I have definitely caught the racing bug.”

Stephanie Hobeika rounded-out her maiden season of car racing in the 2025 Radical Club Challenge presented by 750 Motor Club with a solid and confident drive to a top-six finish on the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit (Saturday 11 October).

In the first Radical contest in the East Midlands, Lebanon’s Hobeika was classified fifth in Class C at the completion of lap one, having cleared both the #66 machine of Vikram Sudera and the #37 of Scott Lear before the Safety Car was deployed in response to a first-corner collision.

The race was red-flagged, delayed and shortened to 20 minutes, and fading brakes prevented Hobeika from progressing further once the action resumed.

She was consequently shuffled down the order to eighth by DW Racing teammate Alex Spooner, the #21 entry of Phil Waite and a resurgent Sudera, who then span on the final run through the Fogarty Esses.

Hobeika started the final race of the 2025 Radical Club Challenge in eighth, her rival for third in the Class C championship Lear filling her rear-view mirrors following a brief Safety Car intervention.

Lear prised open the door shortly after the restart, but Hobeika clung on to her opponent’s coattails to join an intensifying six-car fight for P3, inheriting a position from fellow DW Racing driver Finlay Williams and crossing the finish in sixth.

“The 2025 season has been interesting and, overall, it has been a good first year in car racing,” said Hobeika. “I started well, had a few problems midway through and then ended strongly with some super-fun battles in a much bigger field that more than doubled in size.

“The final race of the Radical Club Challenge was very eventful and I learnt a lot from being part of a six-way fight for the podium. There were a lot of overtakes, crashes and spins, but I kept it clean and finished with a solid top-six result. I came into the Donington Park weekend with a shot at third in the Class C championship and, while I didn’t quite manage it, I’m really happy to have finished so close to Scott (Lear) in the points.”

John Davis was unable to unleash his true pace and demonstrate the progress he has made in 2025 after penalties put him back in the pack during the final two races of the Radical Club Challenge presented by 750 Motor Club at Donington Park (Saturday 11 October).

From 25th overall and 13th in Class B, Davis progressed three places and broke into the top ten by simply keeping his nose clean as contact ensued at the exit of Redgate corner.

The Safety Car emerged from pit lane before the red flags flew, but, at the resumption, Davis maintained track position until the eighth lap, when a spin at the apex of Goddards resigned him to a finish on the edge of the top ten.

A five-place grid penalty for a Safety Car infringement meant meaningful gains were hard to come by in race two.

The Welwyn Garden City-based driver had to make his way by several Radical SR1s in order to reach his class rivals and, while he climbed the overall leaderboard and made headway towards Mark Grason at the tail of the SR3 pack, he could go no higher than 11th in his division.

“I feel I was treated a little unfairly by the stewards in some instances and the penalties I received ultimately took me out of contention for good, representative results in both Radical Club Challenge races at Donington Park,” said Davis. “I treated the second race like a bit of fun and made up several places overall, catching Mark Grason at the back of the Radical SR3 pack once I cleared the slower SR1s from Class C.

“Overall, I’ve been getting quicker and growing in confidence all season. More seat-time would be beneficial, but DW Racing’s coaches and engineers are pleased with my performances because I’m going forwards rather than backwards. I feel I’ve been in contention for results more often this year and I think I’ve performed at my highest level to date, even if I don’t have any trophies to show for it.”