DW Racing battles to solid Radical Cup UK results at stormy Snetterton

DW Racing showed grit and determination throughout a turbulent Fine Cut Radical Cup UK weekend at Snetterton (6-8 June), rebounding from crashes, penalties and inclement weather to help drivers Alex Fisher and John Davis achieve respectable results in the Norfolk countryside.

DW Racing Team Owner, Darren Winter, said: “We arrived at Snetterton for Round 3 of the 2025 Fine Cut Radical Cup UK knowing it would be relatively difficult because neither Alex (Fisher) nor John (Davis) had been able to test at the circuit before the race weekend. We weren’t sure what targets to set and were set back by a bit of drama in testing, with Alex having a moment and striking the barriers. DW Racing did a stellar job in fixing the car so he could get back out in Qualifying, though.

“We hold our hands up and acknowledge that we made a mistake by running the splitter ride-height too low on John’s car in Qualifying. That meant we failed scrutineering and he had to start from the back of the grid in both Sprint Races. It’s not like us to make errors like that. Unfortunately, our team members then had a bit of a coming together at the start of Sprint Race 1 and we had to rebuild Alex’s car again for the second sprint on Sunday morning.”

Winter continued: “Our results heightened our expectations for the Enduro. John was on the backfoot following a spin on lap one and he then had contact with a lapped car, but Alex finished strongly, even though it took him 22 laps to find his true pace. The team has worked really hard and I can’t thank everybody enough for their efforts. We’ll dust ourselves off and try for some representative results in this year’s ‘flyway’ at Circuit Park Zandvoort.”

Alex Fisher

Alex Fisher has been on an upward trajectory since the beginning of his rookie Fine Cut Radical Cup UK season, but his maiden outing at Snetterton was mired by crashes and inclement weather (6-8 June).

Saturday was dominated by short, sharp rain showers and the Radical Cup UK field streamed out onto a damp but drying track at the start of Qualifying.

It took some drivers a while to find their feet in the low-grip conditions and Fisher eased himself into the 25-minute session, keen to rebuild his confidence after crashing his Radical SR3 XXR in Friday testing.

Unfortunately, he was unable to gather momentum because he went no further than the first corner in Sprint Race 1, contact at Riches corner sending him spinning onto the grass with terminal right-rear damage, which DW Racing straightened out before leaving the circuit on Saturday evening.

 Happily, he had a second chance in Sprint Race 2 the following day (Sunday 8 June), and he was elevated to P8 in the starting order when a rival looped their car on the first formation lap.

Track position was relinquished to the recovering #25 RSR machine of Paul Denning as the field swept through the first right-hander at Riches, but DW Racing’s rookie driver inherited two positions when Denning boxed and John Macleod pirouetted on the fourth run through the high-speed Bombhole.

Fisher was busy playing a rearguard action against the #51 Radical Factory car of Flame Airikkala – the granddaughter of 1979 British Rally Champion Pentti Airikkala – when the race was neutralised, and the pressure ramped up further at the restart.

The Finn repeatedly showed her nose into Riches and was unable to capitalise on a slight overlap into the Agostini hairpin, Fisher standing his ground and keeping a tight grip on P7 while battling wind-induced understeer, only to be hit by a ten-second penalty for a false start.

Happy to have completed a race-distance in a respectable eighth place, Fisher was upbeat ahead of the Radical Cup UK’s 50-minute enduro, which included compulsory pit stops.

He started strongly and went from ninth to eighth by cutting underneath the #41 RSR of Jake Williamson at the apex of the Wilson hairpin on lap one, but positions were reversed the next time around.

The DW Racing driver circulated on the edge of the top ten as the #20 Racing Women entry of Jorden Dolischka and Laura O’Connell and the Radical Factory development car of James Pinkerton closed in.

Both found a way by and a small moment for Fisher on the ninth run through Nelson left him detached from the main pack as the skies began to darken on the approach to the pit window.

Mercifully, the rain stayed away, but DW Racing extended Fisher’s first stint and managed to regain 11th position, which became ninth when two cars clashed and brought out the red flags.

“The Enduro Race was very tricky because I was struggling with the balance and couldn’t find a rhythm, but I also had a lot of fun and managed to cut my lap times significantly,” said Fisher. “I have spent the weekend trying to figure things out piece-by-piece, but it’s a shame Friday testing was compromised so badly. I think I could have entered the races on a higher plane with some solid running in consistent conditions.

“I knew my rookie season was going to be difficult. Reaching a high level in any sport doesn’t happen overnight, but I’m enjoying the process and trying to be realistic. I’ve found balancing the car on the brake and throttle both challenging and interesting. For me, it’s really about understanding the car and how to adapt my driving to different conditions that has had the biggest impact on my performances so far, but there’s so much more to learn.”

Fisher continued: “As I have an engineering background, it’s a super fun, technical process. Maybe it sounds simple, but it’s about finding the lap time and keeping all four tyres on the limit of grip. That’s where the lap time will come with the help of DW Racing’s expert coaches and engineers.”

John Davis

John Davis recovered a brace of top three Fangio class finishes in a stormy Fine Cut Radical Cup UK weekend at Snetterton (6-8 June).

Davis took a tentative approach into the Radical Cup UK’s annual visit to East Anglia after shunting his SR3 XXR during the previous round on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in May.

The Welwyn Garden City driver started Sprint Race 1 from 13th on the grid after his SR3 RSX failed post-qualifying scrutineering, but a rear-end lock-up under braking for Riches corner resulted in contact and a high-speed spin that cost him five laps to the leaders.

Davis started Sunday’s Sprint Race 2 from 12th on the grid after one opponent span and another retired to pit lane on the first of two formation laps, but he relinquished track position to the fast-starting Paul Denning in the #25 RSR as the field streaked towards Turn 1, Riches.

An issue for Denning and a spin for fellow Fangio class contender John Macleod elevated Davis into the top ten on the fourth tour of the 2.99-mile Snetterton ‘300’ circuit, and the DW Racing driver ultimately picked up P9 overall and P2 in the Fangio class.

Later, an unforced spin on the opening lap of Sunday’s 50-minute endurance race left Davis completely detached from the main pack, and a mid-race clash while being lapped at the apex of Wilson hampered him further.

However, the DW Racing driver recorded personal best lap times after his compulsory pit stop and was then lifted to 12th overall and third in Fangio after the red flags flew in response to a two-car collision.

“The Enduro Race was a golden opportunity to improve my lap times and I succeeded by listening to DW Racing’s Chief Engineer, Peter Berry,” said Davis. “I made some pretty good improvements at key points of the Snetterton ‘300’ circuit, although that isn’t reflected in the result because I had a spin on lap one. I was kicking myself, because I had a lot of catching up to do. I didn’t have a real benchmark due to the changeable weather we experienced in testing and Qualifying, but more stable conditions on Sunday enabled me to get a lot of solid running and improve immensely.”