Double Masters Champion heads for Radical Carnival

 Marcello Marateotto, twice the Radical European Masters Champion, leads the overseas attack at Bushy Park Barbados this weekend (January 27/28) as the renamed Radical Caribbean SR3 Cup gets under way. The Italian racer will join drivers from England and the United States to take on some of the region's best as the third Radical Carnival launches the 2018 competition season at the St Philip facility.

  Organised by Bushy Park Motor Sports Inc (BPMSI), the race programme will run under the all-arena lighting from 5.00pm on Saturday evening, with a day-time schedule from Noon on Sunday; all races will start from the southern grid, known to promote close and exciting racing. With the regional Suzuki Challenge Series at the end of its projected three-year cycle, racing for the Suzuki-powered Radical SR3 sports cars continues under the wing of BPMSI.

  A seven-year veteran of various Radical campaigns, Marateotto won the European Masters title in both 2015 and 2016, claiming 14 wins from the 33 races over the two seasons, along with 10 further podium finishes, one pole position start and a fastest lap. In 2014, he gained unwanted fame when a puncture at the legendary Eau Rouge corner at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium catapulted his Radical into the barriers, narrowly missing spectators and a marshals post; testament to the strength of the Radial SR3, however, he was released from hospital after an overnight stay.

  More recently Marateotto has dovetailed Radical commitments with outings in the LMP3 classes of the European Le Mans Series and Michelin Le Mans Cup in a Judd-engined Oreca and, more recently a Ligier JS P3 with Nissan power, as well as previous outings with Race Performance in LMP2.

  British driver Mark Crader was a motor racing novice when he first competed in the SR1 Cup in 2013 and has raced Radicals ever since, upgrading to the SR3 RS in 2015. Since then he has been a regular competitor in the UK-based Sprint and Enduro Championships, also taking in rounds of the Radical European Masters, which is currently the company's premier International Championship; he claimed class wins at Barcelona in Spain and the Hungaroring in Hungary last year. He will compete in both the UK-based Radical Challenge and the European Masters again in 2018, driving SR3 RSX and SR8 respectively.

  On his way to finishing eighth in the Radical Challenge in the UK last year, with a best result of second on the Brands Hatch GP circuit, he regularly raced against drivers familiar to island fans, not only Bajans Mark and Stuart Maloney, but also British brothers Brian and John Caudwell and teenager Jack Manchester, who have raced at Bushy Park over the past couple of seasons.

  Double Suzuki Challenge Series Champion Sol Esuf will lead the 'home team' in this weekend's events, along with inaugural Champion Sean Maloney, who won the title in 2015-16, and fellow race-winners Mark and Stuart Maloney and David Simpson.

  Demonstrations on both two and four wheels from the growing number of patrons who have enjoyed Bushy Park Circuit Inc (BPCI) Track Days over the past two years will be interspersed with the Radical races. BPCI Operations Manager Amy Willis said: "We are hoping to encourage some of our Track Day regulars to take the next step and join BPMSI to start circuit racing, so the first move would be to involve them in a race meeting, so they can see how it all works."

Radical International

Saturday, January 27, 5.00 to 9.00pm: viewing from Open Air Suites only, access through Gate 1 (opens at 4.30pm) - $10.
Sunday, January 28, Noon to 4.00pm: viewing from Open Air Suites only, access through Gate 1 (opens at 11.30am) - $10.
Tickets available at the gate.