The 2019 Radical Australia Cup calendar has been unveiled with an exciting six round championship to highlight the eleventh season of the popular one-make prototype Series that just recently saw a change in management along with the signing of a new Category Management Agreement with the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.
For the sixth season, Radical Australia Cup will begin on Australia’s most iconic circuit – Mount Panorama – as part of the annual Bathurst 12 Hour program, before going to Sydney Motorsport, Phillip Island and The Bend Motorsport Park – where there is some likelihood of a twilight meeting – with the season ending once more at the popular Highlands Motorsport Park venue in New Zealand.
There will be a number of changes to the category for season 2019, not the least being at management level with one of the leading men behind the emergence of the category resigning his role in RA Motorsports – former Cup regular Greg Smith.
“Personally I’d like to thank Greg for all his time and commitment to the development of the category since we first conceived the concept all those years ago,” RA Motorsport’s sole Director Chris Medland said. “As a passionate businessman and competitor, he was instrumental in pushing the category forward, but all good things must come to an end, and he needs to spend more time on enjoying retirement and his other pursuits.”
With a new Category Management Agreement now in place until the end of the 2021 season, Medland also confirmed that the 2019 season would also see the introduction of Hankook as the control tyre supplier for Australia, as well as an increased involvement with the Radical factory in the UK.
“I’ve just come back from a dealer meeting in the UK and they again reaffirmed their commitment to Australia and ensuring we have all the tools we need to take the sport forward this year,” Medland explained. “We’ve made a number of changes to the calendar specific to what our drivers were looking for, things like two events at Sydney Motorsport Park – the home circuit of many of the drivers – and more track time at a number of events across the year. There was also a lot of excitement around a return to Highlands Motorsport Park which over the last few years proved to be a very popular destination for the drivers.
“We’re also introducing the new Hankook tyre – which aligns us again with what the rest of the world are doing – and will have the tyre available for all teams to test during the open pit lane session on Gala Day at SMP this Friday (7 December).”
With former Supercars driver Karl Reindler continuing to lead the category into the new season, things are looking good for the year ahead, a season which will once more offer the champion an opportunity to compete on some of the world’s most famous circuits as part of the European Radical Masters Series.
“Kim Burke did a brilliant job this season, no doubt aided by his journey to Europe last season, something which has pushed a number of our former champions even further on their return, and it’s something which has been a fantastic addition to the category each year,” Medland added.
Along with the unveiling of the dates for the eleventh season of the Cup, comes confirmation of the bulk of dates for the popular NSW SuperSports series, an event which provides an ideal platform for drivers to gain valuable additional miles on some of the most popular circuits in the country, something which 2018 champion Mitch Neilson used to good effect in his progression in the Radical Australia Cup this season.
For now the season comes to a close with the annual presentation evening in Pyrmont in Sydney on Wednesday 5 December ahead of the annual Gala event at Sydney Motorsport Park tow days later where the Radical regulars can turn valuable pre-season laps ahead of the new year.
2019 Radical Australia Cup
Rnd 1 – 1-2 February – Mount Panorama, Bathurst, New South Wales
Rnd 2 – 1-3 March – Sydney Motorsport Park, New South Wales
Rnd 3 – 17-19 May – Sydney Motorsport Park, New South Wales
Rnd 4 – 28-30 June – Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Victoria
Rnd 5 – 23-25 August – The Bend Motorsport Park, South Australia
Rnd 6 – October (TBC) – Highlands Motorsport Park, New Zealand
2019 NSW SuperSports Series
Rnd 1 – Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW (6 April, 2019)
Rnd 2 – Wakefield Park, NSW (25 May, 2019)
Rnd 3 – Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW (22 June, 2019)
Rnd 4 – Phillip Island, Victoria (August, 2019 – TBC)
Rnd 5 – Wakefield Park, NSW (7 September, 2019)
Rnd 6 – Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW (26 October, 2019)
Source. Motorsport Media
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