Monday 8th February 2016

Radical RXC Turbo approved for GT3 racing

Fancy playing plucky underdog in international GT racing? Now's your chance

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GT racing has experienced something of a renaissance over recent years, with more manufacturers homologating their sports cars for competition. Think of how diverse a GT field of cars is now: V6 GT-Rs race against V10 R8s, turbocharged Bentleys race naturally aspirated AMGs and the racing is superb.

Watch out Bentley, BMW, Mercedes et al

Now though there's another contender in the GT3 arena, pitched as "the most cost-effective yet competitive route into international GT racing. It's the Radical RXC Turbo, the motorsport version of the RXC Turbo 500 and available to order from Radical now.

It uses the same Ford Ecoboost V6 as the road car, with power said to be "over 500bhp", but with a final output set to be confirmed in line with the Balance of Performance regulations.

Currently the RXC Turbo is approved for racing in the International GT Open, the NARRA USA GT, Britcar, the Endurance Racing Series and the Supercar Challenge. Radical says more championships the car is eligible for will be announced over the coming weeks. It can of course race in the Radical European Masters too.

Ecoboost V6 should make around 500hp

As standard you get a seven-speed straight-cut Quaife gearbox, pushrod suspension with four-way adjustable Intrax dampers, Dunlop SP Sport slick and wet tyres, an FIA-compliant HANS seat and a 100-litre fuel cell too. Ready to race out of the box! On the options list are air-con (£3,000), a £1,450 reversing camera, a carbon body detail kit (£1,900) and even a Radical-branded race suit if you wish.

You may well want to splash out on the options in fact, as the Radical looks conspicuously affordable as GT3 racing cars go. The list price is £197,400, which compares very favourably with the c. £300K most cars like this cost. See here for the full breakdown of costs and colour choices. We'll have ours in Speed Green with an orange smiley please Radical.

[N.B Images are of Radical's prototype that has been testing through 2015 in the International GT Open at GT3 mechanical spec with an older livery. There will be pics of the full GT3 car once it's been on circuit!]

[RobC]

Good news for another British manufacturer but I do feel that its not really in the spirit of GT3 which has always been race derived versions of production cars rather than purpose built race cars with number plates.