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| "A TOTAL BUZZ TO DRIVE..." Radical program set
"Wow! A total buzz to drive. Unbelievable acceleration, superb responsiveness and beautiful handling." Those were driver Neil Crilly's comments after stepping out of the Radical Clubsports 1100 sportsracer for the first time. The Radical sportsracer is a new race car design by UK based Radical, powered by a 146 bhp, Kawasaki 1100 cc engine and sequential gearbox. A test held January 26th in chilly conditions at a small test track just north of Birmingham, England kicked off the new arrangement between Radical Motorsport and Sabre. The program will see Crilly, an experienced GT car pilot who has driven at two Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona events, driving one of three factory team cars in ten European events. (See schedule). The other two cars will be driven by Radical owners Mick Hyde and Phil Abbott. Sabre will provide marketing assistance to Radical, and will work to attract sponsorship as well (see NewFlash!). Another interesting comparison came for Crilly because right after he had driven the car, he flew to Daytona and drove a 425 bhp Porsche 911 three days later. The result? "I really believe the Radical car has acceleration similar to or better than the GT Porsche I just drove at Daytona," said Crilly of the experience. A unique element of the program will see the yellow works car driven by special guest drivers in a further 6-8 races beyond Crilly's ten. Other drivers expected include journalists who will be writing articles about the cars, and Touring Car tester/formula racer Michael Vergers, who has done development testing for Radical. Savasort and Carbotech have also agreed to provide support for Crilly's Radical program, and Savasort's Phil Elmore plans to attend the first race at Silverstone in March.
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In the test, Crilly found himself driving an open car with a left hand shift for the first time, which was a bit odd at first: "After a few laps to adjust, and some minor excitement, found that the sequential shift made gear changes pretty easy to manage. In fact, gear changes were smoother than I expected." 