Chris Perini has extended his lead in the Radical Cup Australia by taking his second round win of the season at Sydney Motorsport Park, in a busy weekend for the GWR Australia squad at the Sydney Motorsport Park round of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships.
Perini was shuffled back a few places at the start of Race 1, but quickly recovered the lost positions to move up to second behind the Peter Paddon/Peter Carr entry. During the pit stop cycle, Perini was able to leapfrog Paddon/Carr, and drove away to secure the race win.
A minor technical glitch saw Perini losing a few places in the second race, but fourth place was still adequate for him to secure the overall round victory and extend his points lead.
“After the last round in Perth, where we were soundly beaten by the West Australians, it was great to be back on top this weekend,” Perini said.
Paddon and Carr finished third in Race 2 to secure second overall for the round. Paddon led the early stages of Race 2, before Carr took over driving duties during the compulsory pit stop and maintained the car’s position inside the top three.
“We opted for aggressive tyre pressures for the start of Race 2, which worked quite well because I was able to drive away from the field in the early laps,” Paddon said.
“As the stint went on, the others were able to catch up but Peter did a good job in the second stint and it’s great to be on the podium again.”
Ash Samadi finished ninth overall for the weekend with results of 12th and eighth in the two races, while Stephen Champion was 13th for the round.
“To be honest, I struggled this weekend,” Champion admitted.
“The combination of the grip levels, the car setup and my driving didn’t really gel, and we didn’t get the results were after. We made some changes to the car for the last race, which seemed to be a step in the right direction, so at least we’ve learned some things that will help us in future rounds.”
Sue Hughes ended the round 15th overall, despite a problem with her car in the opening race.
“We had a little problem with the exhaust in the first race, which was costing me some performance, but the second race was a lot of fun and I had some good battles,” Hughes said.
In the Australian Prototype Series, Steve Roberts finished 10th overall in his Radical SR8.
“It was my first weekend racing at a national level and I had an absolute blast!” an elated Roberts said.
“It was hard work racing with the national-level competitors – they’re very fast – and I had a little spin in Race 2, but I had a huge amount of fun and learned a lot.”
Rounding out GWR’s driver line-up was Indiran Padayachee, who enjoyed a stellar weekend in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge to finish fifth for the round in the Pro-Am Class.
“Racing in the Carrera Cup has definitely improved my driving and I was a lot more competitive compared to last time I raced in Sprint Challenge,” Padyachee said.
“I ran in the mid-pack all weekend and had some terrific battles.”
