From Sim Racing to the Real Thing: How to Get into Motorsport with Radical

Our partnership with Radical Motorsport has helped numerous Supercar Driver members explore a whole new driving experience, whether it be a bit of fun on a track day, dipping their toe into racing or taking part in fully-fledged championships behind the wheel of Radical’s purpose-built racers.

One of those people is Byron, an avid Supercar Driver member who transitioned from sim racing to the real thing. Here’s his story and the unforgettable experience of his first race.

How did you get into racing?

I started as a sim racer, which I have been doing for several years. In Covid, the Porsche Club Great Britain started a sim racing league. I joined the league and started racing with them. From this I became friends with a couple of the guys I raced with, and we decided to meet up at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting once we were allowed out. 

It was at this meeting that one of the guys said he would like to venture into real-world racing and that he had been looking at the EnduroKA series (Ford KA racing!). I investigated it further and we decided to buy a car and give it a go. We are now into our third and final season, and through this we have developed a great little team and made some amazing friends.

Why did you choose to try Radical?

Due to other commitments from our KA team, it was decided that this would be our final year. I therefore needed to find another series for next year. Having had a passenger ride in a Radical with a fellow Supercar Driver member previously, I was aware of the race series and how good the cars are. What surprised me was how approachable the cars are and how much fun they are to drive.

I signed up for the Radical test day through Supercar Driver and was immediately hooked. It was a wet day, but I couldn’t believe the amount of grip the car had. On the back of that, I signed up for the last race weekend of the year at Donington. I could then decide whether I was out of my depth, or whether it would be a good series to try going forward.

What did you think of your debut Radical race weekend?

Amazing!

It was a baptism of fire with it being very wet on the track and test day. The driving standards on the test day (not only Radicals) were very questionable. I had four 35-minute sessions on the day, which basically turned into half laps before a red flag was shown. This was frustrating, as what I really needed was seat time. I therefore went into qualifying with very low expectations and no real benchmark as to where I was. I ended up 15th out of 17th, which was to be expected, but I did gain a chunk of lap time over the session.

Race 1 was interesting. It was my first time racing on full slick tyres, although it started raining, so judging grip levels in a car I knew nothing about was quite interesting. It turns out that racing a KA on semi-slick tyres in the rain must have been useful, as I managed to keep it on the track when a number of others fell off! This resulted in a sixth-place finish.

Race 2 was a damp track, as it was an early start for the race. I had a pretty solid race, finishing 12th.

Race 3 was a 50-minute endurance. I opted to share the car with my driver coach for this and enter the team event. This was the first dry running I had in the car, and it felt great. These things are so good to drive. I managed to get my lap times down to a respectable level, but there is still a lot of time to find to be competitive. This, I feel, will come with seat time. We finished the race second in the teams class and even got a trophy. Debut weekends don’t really get better than this!

What advice would you give to people wanting to get into racing?

Just do it. Go and get your race licence, which is easy to do, and then decide on a series to enter. There are several teams in varying series that will do an “arrive and drive” package, which can be a good way to start. Budget will tend to dictate which series you choose.

Racing is a big learning curve, and your first driver's briefing will feel alien and nerve-racking. Your first start will be that same feeling, but trebled, however, when the lights go out, all that goes away, and you just enjoy the whole process.

If you’re lucky enough to have a few like-minded friends like I did, it makes the experience even better. Just do it!

Find out more about Radical Motorsport and book a test drive day here.