The Sunoco Challenge has so far taken Derek Johnston, Ross Kaiser, Felipe Nasr and Ivan Bellarosa from Club or National motorsport to a run in one of the major endurance events of the year at Daytona.

The 2014 winner is Radical racer Bradley Smith, Radical SR3 Challenge racer with his family-run Mectech team, who took the win ahead of fellow Radical racer James Abbott racing in the Radical EuroSeries S3R class.

The DSC Editor caught up with 22 year old Billericay boy Bradley at a rather damp Brands Hatch just before Christmas for a chat, and some track time with the new Radical RXC (coming up on DSC in the next day or so)

“I guess it started for me like a lot of guys with dad. he’d done a bit of karting and was really into motorbikes, a real petrolhead.

“I started karting about 15 or 16 years ago now, and was racing from the age of 15 or 16 in the UK before moving cross to European karting as, at around that time the UK kart scene was pretty much a lot of crash and smash, not that enjoyable.

“The European scene though was excellent, really enjoyable. We did that until about three years then asked the fateful question, “What’s next?”

“We had a look around and my old man had seen the Radicals at the Lotus Festival at Snetterton a few years back and we thought it was well worth considering.

“It really came down to either the Radicals or else the single seater route, Formula Renault was very popular at that time for instance. But obviously with single seaters you really do have to come with massive bags of money with lots of zeroes at the end so there was some realism applied there for starters!

“We aren’t a massively well off family and that really determined that we would go down the sportscar route and just enjoy going racing. We never did go racing to make a career out of it for myself, we just did it because it’s fun.

“At first we went and did a bit of testing with an older car that we bought from Radical. That went well so we decided to race the following year with a new car in 2012 and we won the Clubman Cup, a fantastic year to get started. I had some fantastic battles with Matt Bell and a few others, a really good and very interesting year.

“In 2013 we moved up to the SR3 Challenge, and I did that as a Solo driver and added a customer car for Lewis Plato too as well as Paul Marsham.

“Lewis won the Sunoco Challenge for the support race at Daytona, he’ll be racing in the Continental Challenge in a Camaro, so it was a great year for all of us, really enjoyable.”

“We knew Lewis through karting, he lives close by too and like me he was looking for something to move up to, a different challenge. We tested him and that went well so he was on board and our other driver Paul has been around the Radical scene for a few years and was looking for a bit of help and a yardstick.

“This year we’ve seen Paul up his game and Lewis has really come on driving wise, all three of us have really profited, learning from each other, it hasn’t just been one guy teaching the others. It’s been great, a real team atmosphere, not a customer atmosphere where there’s an allocated space and an arrive and drive (but not much else) outlook.

“We’re a family run team and that atmosphere transfers well into the way that we all work and live together over a race weekend.”

So is this a full time occupation now?



“Monday to Friday I run a kart team, I’ve always kept that karting connection. We have a few guys running in Rotax and help them out, do all the prep, coaching and data logging, that in itself is a massive step forward for most people, a world away from going out and smashing around the track and finding out what happens.”

Was the Sunoco Challenge part of the plan for the year?

“No, when we finished last year (2012) our plan was just to move up the Radical ladder. We didn’t really understand the Sunoco Challenge until the first round, and then Anders (Hillebrand) rocked up and told us that it was free to enter, explained the prize and said all we had to do was to run a couple of stickers on the car and, to be honest, I approached it as a matter of ‘a free drive is a free drive’ – and then, honestly, I forgot about it with all the early season comings and goings until, in the middle of the season we suddenly realised – ‘Hang on! We’re winning that Sunoco competition!’

“It really wasn’t until we went out for the test at Daytona that we realised how big a deal this was. It was our first time out there and, obviously, my first time in a Daytona Prototype. In fact, aside from the Radicals my only other race car that I’ve driven was a McLaren GT3 that we tested as part of the options we were looking at.”

So what were your first impressions of the Speedway?

“Well the first thing is the sheer size of the place! We actually arrived at night so all we saw as we landed was the big grandstand and a big hill in the darkness thinking “Wonder what that is, then as the morning comes you realise – Ah! that’s the banking!

“The scale of it is just huge, something you rarely see over here!”

“We tested with Action Express in their 2013 spec Corvette DP and was told to expect the pace to be 3 seconds off the pace of the 2014 spec car so I was quite pleased to be 2.5 seconds down.”

So as a driver what is the difference in the cars, and the circuits that you’ve become accustomed to?

“The first thing is that I have never driven anything with that much power and getting used to having that much push out of the corners was a big deal. You also have to take a lot more time over braking. In a Radical you can just go steaming into a corner and it stops whereas the bigger heavier stuff takes more time and a bit more finesse. Learning patience with it very quickly was very necessary, and as you got dialled in there was the learning curve too that the car couldn’t go as quickly as I wanted it to. In a Radical the limitation is how brave you are whereas with the DP there’s a more clearly defined performance envelope, you have to respect and drive to the limits whilst looking after the car too, it’s an endurance race!”

And who was the driver coach they gave you?

“Christian Fittipaldi, he set a time in the morning and (smiling) I ended up two tenths faster than him! I’m sure if he’d been given a run in the afternoon he’d have beaten me but it was a nice feeling.

“I’m testing the 2014 car before Christmas with Whelan Motorsport and then there’s the Roar before the 24 a few weeks before the race proper.

“I want to go out and really enjoy it, of course I’m aware that there are some opportunities for career paths out in the States if you can’t afford the next step over here but I’m not letting that get in the way of the job in hand here.”

What about the inherent compromise in endurance racing, how do you think you’ll adapt?

“I’ve had a bit of that in the recent past doing some of the Radical Endurance events with multiple drivers and found that OK. Everyone has to work together to find a set-up that is the best compromise for all of us to be quick and consistent.”

And what about the challenges of a 24 Hour race, and particularly at Daytona which is a very different sort of circuit for an endurance event?



“One very good thing about the first test is that I did get the chance to do a run which was the length of a stint. The car is not particularly physical to drive in the way that an SR3 is because the corners on the infield are pretty tight and therefore relatively slow and the banking, well you just lean up against the seat and go with it, the track is quite narrow though. So for an hour or so I don’t think its going to be too tough – Over 24 hours though that’s a different thing, adapting to getting up in the night and getting straight on it.

“I was given some racing software from a company called iRacing which includes Daytona by day and night which has been very helpful in learning some of the reference points.”

Have you had a chance to chat to any of the previous Challenge winners about the prize, and their experiences?



“I chatted to Ross (Kaiser) a little bit at the Radical awards night which filled in a few gaps but actually I asked Allan McNish for a bit of advice too through the BRDC Rising Stars scheme where they really help you out through contact with those who have had experience there before.

“Allan left me a very lengthy and detailed track walk in a voice message and then et him for a pretty good chat at a BRDC lunch, he’s really been quite helpful with letting us know what to expect out there, not just on the track but off track around whole the meeting too.

“All in all it is just a massive opportunity, and it really is just sinking in now. When I went to put my helmet down in the truck and saw it between Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais it brings it home to you the level this event is at. Everyone though has been great, going the extra mile to make me feel welcome and offering help and advice. The Action Express guys were very open, very helpful, no question was too basic for them to take seriously. Of course we want to do well but all the advice I’ve had is to just take it as it comes and enjoy it – I’ll be happy to do exactly that.”