Two podiums for Tom at the season finale

Date:
September 27, 2022
Event:
Round 5: Radical SR1 Cup
|
2022
Season

Tom signed off the Radical SR1 finale with a P2 in Race 1 and P3 in Race 2 with him taking an early lead in the Endurance race, but an unfortunate hit from behind from another car put him out of contention for the race.

Qualifying saw Tom show his strong pace even with limited running round the Donington GP circuit claiming the 2nd fastest time at the start of the session. As the track started to rubber in and get faster, Tom had slight issues with balance from the car but still managing to go P3 overall for the two sprint races. Tom commented "we have had very limited running compared to everyone else, so I'm fairly happy with our pace. We can definitely race from there."

Race 1 saw the conditions and track get warmer. With a couple of set up changes made, Tom made a storming start, challenging for the lead on the first lap. Up to 2nd into the famous Melbourne loop, Tom defended his position avoiding a crash from two drivers just behind him. subsequently bring out the safety car. After the debris was cleared up Tom made a great start right behind the leader and challenged into Turn 3. After 3 laps the gap to the leader started to grow and Tom started to struggle with the car under him. With a big gap behind, Tom maturely settled for P2 in the race- a great result, nonetheless.

For Race 2, Tom was to start P3 once more on the inside of the grid for the rolling start. Boxed in, Tom fought to keep position but conceded 3 places in quick succession. Tom fought back straight away and battled his way back up to P4 catching the leaders at a rate of knots. A safety car not long after meant that the pack was to be bunched back up again for a 5-minute sprint to the end. Tom got a brilliant restart and made an amazing move round the outside of McFadden into Turn 1. Into turn 5, Tom made a bold lunge on DeLeon but couldn't quite make it stick. He tried again into Turn 8 but to no avail as he came across the line to claim his 6th podium of the season. Tom commented "I'm super happy to end the season on a high, despite not winning the race. These kinds of results mean everything to the team, especially as some of the guys haven't even been to a racetrack before this weekend! I hope to continue the work with Team Derby Motorsport next year, I feel like we are only just getting started!"

Related

Podium for Tom at the Sachsenring!
Tom scored a hard fought podium at Round 5 of the ADAC GT4 series at the Sachsenring circuit, coming from outside the Top 10 to 3rd place overall.