DW Racing and Andy Lowe broke their podiums duck in Round 5 of the 2024-25 Gulf Radical Cup at Abu Dhabi’s iconic Yas Marina Circuit (21-23 February).
The British team-driver combination has gathered momentum over the course of their maiden season in the United Arab Emirates and produced a flawless Enduro Race performance on the short North Circuit.
A replacement Radical SR3 XXR was required after a gearbox failure caused a devastating fire during the previous round of the 2024-25 season on Yas Marina’s full grand prix layout (31 January-2 February).
It was a disappointing end to a weekend in which Lowe had shown top-six promise, but he exceeded that potential following a big push by DW Racing to prepare his new machine and optimise its setup.
The Peterborough, England-based team’s efforts to cure the excessive understeer and oversteer experienced in free practice yielded results, as Lowe had the confidence to punch in competitive times on consecutive laps and go fourth fastest (1m04.651s) in Sprint Qualifying.
From row two of the Sprint Race 1 grid, Lowe produced what he described as a “steady” performance, driving immaculately and extinguishing all threats from behind to finish where he started in P4.
Sprint Race 2, though, was more eventful for Lowe; his second-best qualifying lap was enough to place him fifth in the starting order, and he spent much of his time caught under the rear-wing of the #69 GulfSport Racing car of Peri Daremas.
DW Racing’s Lowe was eventually presented with a passing opportunity on the ninth tour of Yas Marina’s 1.96-mile North Circuit, but, while he executed the overtake, the aero-wash from the rival SR3 XXR caused him to understeer wide and earn a five-second track limits penalisation.
Unperturbed, Lowe negated the penalty and pulled away by the tune of eight seconds, only for a late-race Safety Car to condense the entire field and rob him of another fourth-place result, the Wolverhampton, England driver plummeting to 11th in the definitive classification.
Despite that, spirits were high and Lowe looked forward to demonstrating his increased confidence and consistency in Sunday’s Enduro Race, for which he qualified sixth.
He was right to be optimistic, as he progressed to third following a perfectly executed pit stop by DW Racing and produced a flawless drive under increasing pressure from 2024-25 Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 Vice-Champion Ian Aguilera to secure a stellar, long overdue podium finish.
“I’m really pleased to have finally scaled the Gulf Radical Cup podium,” said Lowe. “It’s a great result that DW Racing and I have been expecting for quite a while, doing exactly what we have wanted to do since our first day of testing in the United Arab Emirates.
“I went into the Enduro Race knowing a podium was possible but careful not to get over-confident, and everything came together. It was clear when we reviewed my onboard footage that I didn’t make a single mistake, and DW Racing’s pit stop went like clockwork, lifting me further up the order. I then had to keep my head, despite pressure from Ian (Aguilera), who finished just a few tenths behind. It’s incredibly satisfying and will only boost my confidence further.”
