Oscar Joyce finished runner-up in the 2024 Hagerty Radical Cup UK SR3 Pro Championship after racing to consecutive podiums and a fourth place at Brands Hatch (14-15 September).
The Richmond-domiciled driver pulled off one of his strongest weekend performances of the season, qualifying well in second overall and nailing his race starts to give himself a clear run at representative P2 results – his fourth and fifth podiums of 2024.
Oscar said:
I rounded off the 2024 Hagerty Radical Cup UK at Brands Hatch with podiums and a P4 result that lifted me to second in the definitive SR3 Pro Championship.
For me, the first priority was to simply have fun and enjoy the final race weekend of an educational, at times challenging season with my Radical SR3 XXR, but knowing three strong race results would vault me to second in the points was very motivational.
I’m first to admit that my qualifying performances and race starts have been below par this year.
Starting from mid-pack has regularly placed me in difficult situations that have severely compromised some of my races, so I was more determined than ever to give myself a decent chance of competing for truly representative podiums in the Brands Hatch finale.
Happily, I locked-in front row grid positions and, in two carbon copy races, pushed on to a brace of P2 results in Saturday’s 20-minute contests.
Neither race was completely comfortable, as I had the #81 Radical Factory invitational entry of Max McRae – the nephew of Colin McRae, who in 1995 famously became the first British driver to win the World Rally Championship – shadowing me from lights-out to the chequered flag.
The start of race three on Sunday (15 September) was chaotic, as pretty much everybody got caught up in a scuffle.
I went for a move on Jack Yang under braking for the Druids hairpin, but the Valour Racing driver decided to close the door and cut across my front splitter, the contact knocking my wheel out of alignment.
The red flags flew following a hefty multi-car shunt that occurred moments earlier at Paddock Hill Bend involving my DW Racing teammate Peter Tyler, who was seriously injured in the crash.
It’s a sobering reminder of the dangers of the sport we love, but I’m happy and relieved to report that Peter is doing well and will make a full recovery in time.
Racing eventually resumed and I wrestled my car to the finish for a P4 result, which was enough to take me above Luke Hilton into second in the final SR3 Pro standings.
On the whole, the Brands Hatch finale was possibly one of my strongest weekends of the year, and finishing second in the championship is a mega result for me and my DW Racing team.
I have learnt so much and developed at a vast rate as a driver this season, and while we have been hindered by a few mechanical issues – things that were completely out of the team’s control – I end 2024 with a much better understanding of how to drive a car with a lot of downforce.
Where and how I’ll use all of that knowledge and experience in 2025 is yet to be determined, but I’m excited for the future and look forward to announcing my plans in the coming months.
