By: Mike Sullivan/RaceCanada.ca
July 27 2016

This weekend, July 30-31, sees the Radical Cup North American Masters Series return to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as part of the BARC Grand Prix of Ontario race weekend.

At last year's event, the series saw it's biggest grid of the season as 16 cars took the green flag over two days of racing. This year there are 22 cars entered, as the Radical Canada Cup series continues it's growth under the leadership of veteran racer Robert Burgess.

For those not familiar with the Radicals, they are a 2 seat sports car built in the UK, designed for both racing and track days. In terms of performance, a Radical fits in between an F1600 and an F2000. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, F2000 cars will do lap times in the low 1:22 range, while front runners in F1600 will lap in the around 1:29. A front running Radical will lap in the high 1:22's or low 1:23's.

“The Radical Cup is exclusively for gentleman drivers, we don't allow professional drivers or development drivers,” says Radical Canada's Robert Burgess. “This makes the series very competitive. The Radical is a purpose built race car so it offers a visceral driving experience”.

While this is the biggest race of the year for local racers, it also marks the third round of the Radical Cup North America Championship. With more than 400 Radical's sold in Canada, the US and Mexico, the race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is part of a North American Radical Championship that includes events held at Sebring, Virginia International Raceway and the Circuit of the America's.

The bigger field this year will be looking to upset last year's Radical Cup North American Masters podium. Last year, the same 3 drivers swept the podium at both races, with Louey Jabouri finding himself on the top step of the podium both days, followed by Matt Graham & Greg Borland each time.

With two Radical Cup Canada events in the books so far this season, the opener at CTMP in May and round 2 at Calabogie in June, the triple-header format has seen Mike Boekdrukker take a pair of wins at the CTMP opener, with Bruce Gregory putting up a pair of wins at Calabogie. Jonathan Labbe and Robert Burgess also picked up single wins at CTMP and Calabogie respectively.

With 4 different winners so far this season, and a whole host of American drivers coming north, this event promises to be a highlight of the season. As well, for this event, the series goes back to a double header format, with a practice session, qualifying and a race on each day.

The weekend will also host a full slate of Ontario regional races, including the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship, The Miller's Oils F1200 Championship, VARAC Vintage classes and a couple of GT classes.

Practice and qualifying for the weekend gets underway Saturday morning at 8:30 with the Radical Cup North American Masters Series getting a 20 minute practice session before lunch, while qualifying comes up just after lunch and the first Radical race of the weekend will end Saturday's action at around 3:30pm, depending on the carnage before it, or hopefully, lack thereof.

Want to catch all of the action of this year's Radical Cup North American Masters Series? Then click HERE and download your complimentary tickets.

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