Radical at 'ring

What's it like to lap the 'ring in a Radical? Amazing... so long as you stay off the kerbs

I'm at Schwalbenschwanz at the Nurburgring at the wheel of a Radical SR3 RS. And I'm facing the wrong way, looking at a set of still smoking black lines left by frantically locked tyres that trace the path of my high speed rotation.

"So, you're definitely not going to spin then?"

This isn't ideal.

Beside me is a justifiably cross Michael Vergers, a man considerably more capable at the business of getting Radicals around the 'ring given he lapped an SR8 LM in an astonishing 6min 48sec back in 2009. The fact he'd driven it there from the factory on the same tyres he set the lap time on gave nominal 'road car' credentials but, as I've just discovered, numberplates and tax disc or not there's very little about the Radical experience that carries over from regular cars, even track ready flyweights like Ariels or Caterhams.

"You had that coming," is Vergers' curt appraisal through my earphones. "Your lines are far too wide, you go too close to the kerbs, it's like you use the oldest of old school technique. Now, we need to get off the track. Now."

Driving a Radical round the Nurburgring really is an intense experience; I'd just hoped it wouldn't be quite this intense. The car I'm in belongs to Unique Track Days and runs as both an experience and tuition vehicle at circuits across the UK. Occasional forays to the 'ring and the relationship with Vergers, established by Unique founder Dave Tilly after he considered "what would be the ultimate motorsport experience", offer something truly, well, unique. Just how fast does he go? "He set a 7min 15sec bridge to gantry during one of the passenger runs we did," says Tilly, "and at the end of the day he was on for a lap which was quite a bit faster but got red flagged." And if you'd normally turn your nose up at the idea of a passenger lap this really is something a bit different.

Unique Track Days' Radical, ready for the 'ring

At my request the lap riding shotgun isn't quite so banzai, my thinking being I'll get some pointers from Vergers on what I should have been doing on my first lap to make the second dramatic for the right reasons. Michael admits that he's done so many laps of the place in the Radical that he strategically kisses certain kerbs to keep himself amused. But he's unequivocal - I shouldn't be attempting the same. Given that from the line of sight you have in the SR3 many of the kerbs appear taller than the car that's not too difficult a request to abide by.

All my 'ring laps have been in 'regular' cars so I'll claim my failure to adjust to this altered world view as a contributory factor in the disastrous line choice that led to my spin. As Tilly says, so long as you keep the Radical on the black bits it's a safe and predictable car for tuition yet a vivid taste of what a real racing car is like to drive.

And staying on the black bits is very much my goal for lap two. A busy lap of the 'ring is an involving enough experience as it stands but in the Radical everything is ramped by a factor of ... lots. Unique's car, like many, has paddle actuated pneumatic shifting for the sequential gearbox, dinky gold anodised paddles behind the tiny wheel all you need to make the shift go through. Second time out I'm getting more thumbs up from beside me than before and though chastened and cautious after the first attempt I feel my concentration levels and accuracy are up to speed with the car now.

Nordschleife not exciting enough? It is now

Michael's lap shows a much more aggressive line into the corners than my 'old school' one and I try and follow suit, using the aero and the grip to dive in earlier than I might instinctively have done otherwise. It takes some discipline to rev the Hayabusa-based engine out - people unaccustomed to five-figure redlines rarely do says Vergers - and the concentration levels compared with a regular road car are mentally exhausting. Frankly I've no idea what kind of pace we're on but with the bike engine drilling away in my ears and through the bulkhead behind connection with the car is intimate and - again - intense. Although it only weighs a little over half a tonne (minus Michael and myself) the interaction is physically demanding over the 'ring's cambers and gradients, the little wheel writhing around and requiring constant attention.

We complete the lap facing the right way this time and my scrambled brain takes a little while to come back down to earth. As I've learned, it's easy to get complacent about lapping a circuit in a road car and if the Radical is the friendly introduction to driving 'proper' cars then it's a dramatic and thrilling wake-up call. And not one to be forgotten quickly.

Michael Vergers interview on the Unique Track Days blog.

Dan's full lap (or you can just skip straight to the spin)

Michael Vergers 'ring lap

Thanks to Unique Track Days

Track photography: Frozenspeed

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GregK2

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