Team looks to Sportscar market after two fantastic tests

Michael and the Hillspeed team made their sportscar debut at a shakedown at Donington Park (3/6/06) with the team?s new Radical SR3. The day was blessed with superb weather conditions allowing the team and drivers to find the true pace of the car. Michael was joined by Formula Renault team mate James Littlejohn for the shakedown and both drivers were extremely impressed by the cars speed and handling characteristics. ?The car was nothing like I expected; I thought it would require a totally different driving style to a single seater racing car but in many ways, it was very similar to the Renault. It?s a lot of fun to drive and very rewarding?.

Despite the limited track time on the day, the team was able to gather a lot of useful data and setup work in preparation for the first round of the ?Radical World Cup? at Donington Park (27/8/06). ?We were on the pace very quickly and ended the day about 1.5 seconds off the lap record; I should have gone a lot quicker but I made a mistake on the last run and ended up in the gravel! I?m very happy with the progress we made because despite a few setbacks with the aerodynamics, our pace is very quick and consistent straight out of the box?.

The team moved to Silverstone (16/6/06) for the car?s second test with Michael continuing the setup work. With an up rated package from Donington, the team was confident of curing the aerodynamic problems experienced at high speed. ?We went in a completely different direction with the setup which really made the car a lot more stable on the long straights. The track was very grippy which was definitely beneficial because it meant we could experiment a lot with the setup and gathered some very useful data. We had a great balance in the final session and I was able to do a full race distance at a very quick pace. I think we were only 0.9 seconds off the lap record which is very promising because there is still a lot more to come from the car?.

After the beginning of a very successful testing program, the team is now looking to compete in selected rounds of the ?Great and British Dunlop Radical Enduro Championship? and the ?Radical World Cup?. The dates for these are as follows:

23rd July- Silverstone (G&B)
27th August- Donington Park (WC)
8th October- Spa (WC)
12th November- Estoril (WC)
10th December- Dubai (WC)