CLARINGTON, ON – The FEL Emzone Radical Cup Canada presented by Michelin opened its season during the Castrol Victoria Day SpeedFest at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP). Brady Clapham recorded a pair of overall victories, while Jake Latham and John Painter split the Masters class honours.
Race One
Cayden Goodridge started on pole for the Saturday opener, which began on a wet track after a cell of heavy rain moved over the 10-turn road course. It didn’t take long for a caution, with simultaneous spins by Auto Eclectic Motorsports drivers Tyson Balbosa and John Painter on the first lap. Both cars retired from the race with some damage to repair.
One lap after the restart, Brady Clapham took the lead. The 18-year-old driver, in his second season, pulled away to his first career series win. Goodridge finished 1.910 seconds back in the runner-up spot, with rookie Francesco Esposito rounding out the podium.
“It was incredible,” said Clapham, talking about the battle with Goodridge. “I could tell he had better wet tires than I did so I had to be very careful when it was raining. Being able to take the lead off of him early and just be able to defend when it was still wet was better, but once it dried up and my worse rain tires were able to prevail overall, it definitely felt good.”
Clapham says it feels a little extra special to get his first win given the changing conditions and the traffic of lapped cars. For Goodridge, the second-place comes in his return to Radicals after competing in the FEL SCCC GT4 class last season. He says it’s a dream to drive the car, especially on a track like CTMP, where the downforce shines. He also enjoyed the opening race battle.
“It was really back-and-forth, it was a lot to do with just managing the changing conditions,” said Goodridge. “I knew I had a lot of pace on him in a few of the more wet areas but then, as the track dried up and the tires got chewed up, he did a really good job of finding the wet spots to keep his tires in the window. So, by the end of the race, it was really hard to keep up with him. Really good battle, it was fun.”
American driver Jake Latham took his first career win in the Masters class, with Daniel Earle and Cedric Ohayon rounding out the podium.
Race Two
The weekend finale took place Sunday morning under overcast skies, with cool wind gusts. Clapham controlled a caution-free event to complete the weekend sweep, ahead of Goodridge and reigning champion Kenny Riedmann.
Riedmann piloted the No. 22 car for TWOth Autosport, a ride he’s sharing with rookie Max Haverkate. In addition to being behind-the-wheel, Riedmann will serve in a team leadership role, which includes driver coaching. Haverkate, a past karting champion and competitor in F1200, VARAC and Lucky Dog Canada, is also having a documentary filmed about him during the season.
Painter, after his early exit in race one, drove up to the lead in the Masters class. The Australian expat scored his first career series victory, celebrating with a traditional Aussie ‘Shoey’ (pronounced shoe-E), drinking champagne out of his shoe. Latham and Earle completed the podium.
“That was a great race, I thought it was going to be a little bit damper than it was, the track was actually really dry,” said Painter. “I had a terrible start, I got dumped by like three cars and had to work my way back through the pack again, which was really interesting. I think I had some pace through (turn) eight, I felt I was a little bit quicker than everyone through eight, at least the cars I was battling…it was a bit greasy off line, so that was interesting to send it into (turn) ten, but I think I gave the guys plenty of warning it was coming and tried to be super consistent about how I did it.”
Next up for the Radical Cup Canada will be the Streets of Toronto, in a combined field with Radical Cup North America, on July 18-20.
