Radical SR9's at Laguna Seca ALMS - Thursday 2nd November 2006

Team Bruichladdich Radical SR9 - Laguna SecaTwo Radical SR9’s had their first outing at Laguna Seca last weekend at the final round of the 2006 American Le Mans Series.

The US Van der Steur Racing team and the UK Bruichladdich Radical team went head-to-head with the Penske Motorsport team for the first time.

Both Radical teams were able to show how competitive the Radical SR9 is ‘out of the box’ up against the Porsche RS Spyder on their home ground. 

The Radicals had a mountain to climb, neither team having tested previously at the circuit.  The Van der Steur SR9 ran on Kumho tyres, and the Bruichladdich Radical SR9 sported Dunlops, while the Porsche of the Penske team ran on Michelin.  The smooth, sandy nature of Laguna Seca made the circuit very tyre dependant.

During the test session, the Van der Steur team was getting to grips with a new car, while the Bruichladdich Radical lead driver Stuart Moseley was not only trying to set the car up, but also learning the circuit. 

Stuart Moseley - Radical SR9Despite these huge hurdles, in the last test session Stuart Moseley posted a 1:15.7 - eighth fastest overall and only seven tenths off the Audi R10 of Frank Biela, six tenths off the Penske-run Porsche of Sascha Maaschen and five tenths off the Dyson Racing P1 Lola B06/10.

Tim Greaves, Bruichladdich Radical owner was very pleased. “We could have gone faster but the tyres went away from us towards the end of the session as the track got dusty.”

The Van der Steur SR9 qualified just one place behind, in the hands of Ben Devlin.

Qualifying was just as impressive with the Bruichladdich car qualifying eighth with a 1:15.3, just one tenth behind the Dyson P1 Lola and 1 second behind the Porsche driven by Romain Dumas, and the Audi of Emanuele Pirro.  Ben Devlin managed a 1:16.2 to secure ninth spot.

The Horag Racing P2 Lola B05/40 was three seconds behind, and the BK Motorsport Courage C65 was five seconds off the Radical’s pace.

Van der Steur lead driver Ben Devlin was also very pleased.  “The Radical is faster and far nicer to drive than the Lola we have run for the last few years.  The team likes the Radical because it is easy to work on and the chassis is very responsive.  Kumho tyres are very keen to work with us to close the gap between them and Michelin.” 

Ben Devlin of Van Der Steur Racing heads the Team Penske Porsche RS SpydersThe race was not quite so successful with both Radical falling behind because of minor technical problems for the Bruichladdich Radical, and a spin and a crash for the Van der Steur car.  The highlight for Radical, was when Ben Devlin was leading one of the Porsches in the middle of the race.  We were told later that the Porsche team were so furious that they requested that the organisers black flag the Radical, which of course they refused.

The Porsche came away with the cigars, but when Radical have done the development work with their respective tyre suppliers, both teams are convinced that they can take on all-comers.  Roll on next season.

Photos courtesy of Dailysportscar.com


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