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Radical title to be decided on the Mountain
A Record-breaking year of competition in the First Focus Radical Cup Australia Series will come to a head this weekend at Mount Panorama as the 2024 title is decided.
Peter Paddon and Cooper Cutts will continue the theme of East-versus-West in a climactic showdown between the First Focus GWR Australia driver from Sydney and the Arise Racing-backed youngster from the West.
Paddon leads Cutts by just 66 points, with 180 up for grabs on the Mountain this weekend; the series’ to conclude it’s five rounds with a pair of 50-minute mini-endurance races at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International.
Paddon and Cutts have been basically inseparable this season and have both finished in the top three at every round this year.
The pair tied for points at Round 1 – Paddon won on a countback – while Paddon claimed Round 2 in Perth – stealing a win on Cutt’s home turf.
The young gun struck back in South Australia in Round 3 before Paddon returned serve at Sydney Motorsport Park two weeks ago to assert his position as the series leader with a round to go.
The net result is the pair are the only two drivers able to win the championship this weekend, Barton Mawer and Terry Knowles more than one round’s worth of points behind in third.
While this weekend will be Cutt’s debut at Mount Panorama, Paddon has raced there before in one-make Radical competition.
This weekend marks the first Radical round in Bathurst under the series’ current format and first overall since Easter, 2021 – a weekend where Paddon claimed the second race of two that weekend.
While Paddon and Cutts fight out for the series’ overall glory, the class competitions are also up for grabs this weekend.
In Radical Master, Ash Samadi holds a narrow 29-point lead over Brad Russell, while Volante Rosso Motorsport’s Melinda Price and Greg Kenny are only eight points further back in third – meaning it’s a wide-open battle there.
Samadi also leads the Radical Challenge standings over Brad Russell, with Price and Kenny again in third place and well within striking distance.
Meanwhile, the coveted teams trophy is also up for grabs with GWR Australia holding a tiny, 10-point lead over Arise Racing heading to Bathurst.
A field of 22 cars has entered for the Bathurst season finale as the championship looks set to conclude in style.
Justin Tigani returns fresh from his on-debut podium finish in Sydney last time out, while the in-form duo of Barton Mawer and Terry Knowles will likely be a feature in races – each featuring a compulsory pit stop – this weekend.
Volante Rosso will be keen for revenge following a fast but frustrating Sydney event, where technical issues ruled out Josh Hunt from a potentially winning position early in the weekend.
He’s back alongside Peter Clare, while Melinda Price and Greg Kenny and James Hernandez give the Sydney-based VR team contenders across the board – while Bill Medland makes a welcome return as well.
With all the regulars back in action, additions to the grid include Michael Donnellan and Adrian Sarkis pairing up in a GWR Australia entry – making their first start since Round 1 at Phillip Island – while Shaun Hannah is set to make his second First Focus Radical Cup Australia start in another entry from the Sydney team, fresh from his category debut in Sydney.
Volante Rosso will add a fourth car with the return of Colin Ivory, who will be partnered with the vastly experienced Brett Holdsworth.
While this will be Holdsworth’s Radical debut, he brings years of experience in close-quarter racing and at Mount Panorama to the table this weekend – including a strong showing in his most recent event, a cameo in the Trico TransAm Series at Queensland Raceway in July.
The strong First Focus Radical Cup Australia grids will tackle two, 50-minute races this weekend at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International.
Practice and Qualifying will be held on Friday at Mount Panorama, prior to the first race at 9:50am AEDT on Saturday, 9 November.
The season finale’ will then be contested at 12:50pm AEDT on Sunday, 10 November, with live coverage of that race on the screens of 7plus sport this weekend.