Radical Sportscars - Radical Clubman Cup: Round 4

Radical Clubman Cup: Round 4 - Eastern Creek

15 May 2011

Shaw On Top Again At Radical Clubman Cup: Round 4

Round 4 of the Radical Clubman Cup took place on Sunday 15^th May at Eastern Creek Raceway.

Sixteen Radicals lined up for the one-day event under crystal clear skies. The qualifying session commenced in challenging conditions with a non-Radical competitor evacuating its sump on lap 2 causing a red flag. Once the track was reopened it was Michael Shaw who grabbed fastest lap with a 1:31.38 followed by Peter Opie and Richard Bloomfield. Lap times were generally slower thanks to residual oil at turns 9 through to 12 but all Radicals completed the session in one piece.

The format for the day included an innovation of a single sprint race and a 35-minute Enduro.

In Race 1 Muston, Shaw and Opie were first around turn 2 followed by Bloomfield and Greg Smith. Tony Palmer headed first race newcomer Shane Otten in 6^th and 7^th while Tony Haggarty, Simon Haggarty, Peter Johnston and Sue Hughes followed closely. With the race distance shortened to just 5 laps through delays in other categories drivers had to get on the pace quickly. The front-runners did exactly that, including Shaw who set the fastest race lap of 1:30.64 in just his second circuit. Steve Shelley was flying after his thirteenth place start to come home 8^th outright and get race 1 hard charger honours. The comfortable winner Neale Muston followed closely by Michael Shaw who was 2.6 seconds quicker over Opie in third with Bloomfield just pipping Smith and Palmer to grab fourth. Importantly, all cars came home in one piece in preparation for the 35-minute race.

The feature race saw some fantastic dueling and racecraft from all drivers. Off the start it was Shaw again with Muston, Opie and Smith in close proximity for the first few laps battles were tight throughout the field. Shaw began to draw away from the pack and posted the fastest lap of the race on lap 10 of 22 with a 1:30.20, which turned out to be the fastest lap of the day (including Qualifying).

Whilst Shaw, Muston and Opie drove a solitary race, the battle for the minor places was inspiring. Smith and Bloomfield jousted wheel-to-wheel with Palmer never far away. Steve Shelley, after starting in tenth, worked his way into a great dice with Palmer, before having a mechanical issue, which forced him to pit leaving Palmer to finish in 5th place.

Simon Haggarty and newbie Peter Johnston came in 6th and 7th place, while Rowan Ross snared a consistent 8th. Otten was unfortunate to stall off the grid and was unable to re-start for nearly 10 seconds. However, once he got going he stormed through the field to ultimately finish in 9^th spot – a sensational result considering he had never driven a Radical before today.

Singapore visitor, Lim Keong Liam in his leased Radical Events 1340cc car was consistent and got 10^th place in Race 2 ahead of Tony Haggarty in 11^th, with Steve Shelley, George Davis and Gordon Mellis taking out 12th, 13th and 14th spot respectively.

Richard Bloomfield was unfortunate to suffer a mechanical failure whilst dicing for third place, which left him a non-finisher, along with Sue Hughes.

The MoComm Radical Australia Driver Excellence Award went to Greg Smith who never put a foot wrong and posted his fastest ever times.

RESULTS:

Race 1
1st: Neale Muston
2nd: Michael Shaw
3rd: Peter Opie

Race 2
1st: Michael Shaw
2nd: Peter Opie
3rd: Greg Smith

Overall points table results from Radical Clubman Cup, Round 4: