DW Racing’s Alex Fisher ascends into top six on Radical Cup UK debut at Donington Park

DW Racing’s Fine Cut Radical Cup UK rookie, Alex Fisher, unlocked pace and edged his way into the top six on debut at Donington Park (28-30 March), inspiring confidence for the remainder of the 2025 season.

Fisher found chunks of lap time while getting acquainted with the #5 Radical SR3 XXR over the course of four Friday practice sessions, building on what he and DW Racing achieved during official pre-season testing in mid-March.

There was still much to learn and the London-domiciled driver approached his maiden Radical Cup UK weekend pragmatically, just wanting to remain on an upward trajectory by harnessing DW Racing’s expert engineering and coaching.

The starting order for Sprint Races 1 and 2 was determined by the fastest and second-fastest laps from Saturday’s Qualifying session and Fisher himself acknowledged that he had left time on the table, as he placed eighth with a 1m33.112s, which was a full second off his best testing performances.

However, Fisher made gains from eighth to sixth on the opening lap of Sprint Race 1 by keeping his nose clean into the first braking zone at Redgate, where the #95 Radical Racing Rebels of Hamish Forrest was tipped into a spin.

Predictably, the Safety Car was deployed so Donington Park’s marshals could retrieve the stricken SR3 XXR from the gravel trap, and the restart provided Fisher with an opportunity to hoist himself up into the top five at the expense of the #66 machine of Rachel Robertson.

The DW Racing challenger gapped his pursuers and also reduced his deficit to the dogfight for third position involving Fangio class rivals John Macleod and Andy Lowe, but a spin at the Melbourne Hairpin sent him tumbling back down to ninth.

From there, Fisher embarked on a fine recovery drive, squeezing by the #33 Formula Woman of Alicia Barrett on the 11th run through Coppice to finish a creditable seventh on his Radical Cup UK debut.

In Sprint Race 2, DW Racing’s Fisher lost track position in a high-speed spin that occurred on the initial descent down the Craner Curves, but he swiftly regained P7 from the #51 Formula Woman of Natalie Neumann and the troubled #33 car of Karla Villaneuva.

Somewhat detached from the top six contenders, he was forced to play a rear-guard action against the non-points-scoring #99 Radical Factory development car of James Pinkerton, who eventually managed to prise open the door to P7 in the dying embers of the 20-minute contest.

Nevertheless, Fisher still earned points for seventh and his best racing lap from Sprint Race 1 (1m32.803s) was enough to place him fifth on the Endurance Race grid, which included a mandatory 45-second pit stop.

Unfortunately, Fisher got boxed in at the apex of Redgate corner and dropped two places, but he later inherited sixth when a rival sustained a puncture and then proceeded to gap the chasing #33 entry by more than six seconds on the approach to his compulsory pit visit.

A well-executed stop by DW Racing’s mechanics ensured Fisher held position on the edge of the top six with a stable advantage over his pursuers, the first of which was the #51 Formula Woman car.

Critically, the 36-year-old London racer continued edging away to successfully negate a five-second time penalty for repeatedly violating track limits and he rounded out a solid weekend in a highly respectable sixth position.

“My first weekend in the Fine Cut Radical Cup UK has been great and I have definitely learnt a lot,” said Fisher. “I think I have a better base upon which to build in the next round at Brands Hatch and I’m keen to get on with it. I’m happy to have achieved my first top five in the Endurance Race, but I have to focus on consistency, because I have pushed a little too hard and messed up at certain corners on occasion.

“It has been great working with DW Racing, which has provided great support throughout. I have been made to feel very comfortable and I believe we have progressed, so I’m pleased and already looking forward to the next round at Brands Hatch.”

DW Racing Team Owner, Darren Winter, said: “One of the main objectives for the opening round of the 2025 Fine Cut Radical Cup UK was to have fun, and I have with a capital ‘F’. We came into this season without any expectations because we have a complete novice in Alex (Fisher). There’s clearly a lot of room for improvement, but there are already encouraging signs and he has produced some solid performances that give us a good baseline for the rest of the campaign. We unlocked as much as we could at Donington Park and I believe he will be quite competitive with practice.

“Each team member has provided great support throughout and it was particularly nice to celebrate Mother’s Day with our wives, partners and sisters. I’m super proud to be working with such amazing people and I’m looking forward to an enjoyable year.”