Historic Sandown Challenges

Sandown Raceway, July 2025

30 July 2025

A visit to the Home of Horse Power, namely Sandown Raceway in Melbourne, threw up some challenges for most of the drivers in Round 4 of the Radical Cup Australia.  For rookie Ruairi Avern, the mixed weather conditions brought some solid moments, including a podium place in Race 3 as well as 11 exciting overtakes on track over the weekend, but also some valuable lessons to take forward to the next round.

Saturday’s qualifying session was shaped by early rain and whilst Ruairi’s times looked promising, he got caught up in traffic during the closing laps on a rapidly drying track.  It was a costly setback and he ended the session in P7.    

Races 1 & 2 on Saturday afternoon delivered some mixed results, with a strong P5 result in the first outing, but a late spin-off in Race 2 sent him to the back of the pack without time to chase them down.

With heavy rainfall and low temperatures in Melbourne, the Radicals were out on track on Sunday on wets.  After starting in P5 in Race 3, Ruairi managed to make up a couple of places to take a P3 podium.  Race 4 was another exciting display of nerve and determination, starting last and making his way through the field in the rain, to finish a commendable P4.   

After the race, Ruairi commented: “Overall not the results I wanted this weekend, a 5th for the Round, but given the conditions and a couple of costly errors, I’m happy enough with my driving. Racing at Sandown this weekend in the footsteps of some legends of F1 has been a privilege. And I’ve also learnt a few valuable lessons which I will certainly benefit from going into the next round.”

The finale of the Radical Cup Australia is at The Bend in South Australia, from 5-7 September 2025.