OLYMPIC STAR KENNY RETURNS TO RACING
Olympic gold medal hero Jason Kenny returned to the cockpit of a Radical SR3 after an absence of two years at the Brands Hatch Lotus Festival last weekend.
Kenny was a podium finisher at the Nurburgring in the Radical European Masters in 2014 but did not follow this up because of the demands of his cycle training programme.
Radical marketing manager Roger Green offered to organise the return in the Radical Challenge if Kenny won gold in Rio. Three record-breaking results in South America more than earned the opportunity to race an SR3 RSX.
The Brands appearance was part of the build-up to a race at Jerez in October, where Kenny is due to form a dream team with co-driver Chris Hoy, another sixtimes gold medal winner, as well as a former Radical pilot and 2016 Le Mans racer. They are scheduled to share the driving duties in a Radical Spyder in Radical’s European finale.
“Life is really busy at present,” said Kenny, “so one of the things I like about this is being on my own in the car and getting a bit of peace and quiet, even though this may sound strange.
“I’ve been on the Grand Prix circuit before and it’s really narrow and fast and frightens me a bit to be honest. It’s certainly a real challenge.
“My first target this weekend is getting used to having other cars around me and keeping my nose clean. There’s no point going off at the first corner.”
Kenny finished 11th and sixth in the first two races in Kent but collided with Brian Caudwell in the finale when fighting for a podium place.
Kenny’s motorsport future beyond Jerez is still undecided. “We’re taking a couple of months off and I’ll decide if the desire is still there to get back into cycling training. You can’t just drift into it – there has to be a full commitment.”
experience with eight more races in the year. It would also be beneficial for those who come over from Ireland – it would make it a bit more unique and desirable.”
But Oldfield did say that having three races would mean all Fford rounds would need to be spread over two days, which could pose a problem at some circuits.
Swift Cooper team boss Alan Cooper added: “Most races are over after 15 minutes anyway so it makes sense. The important thing is that if we do that is that they [BRSCC] give us enough time between each session. If they do the budget doesn’t really go up but it is a lot better value for money.”
This is not the first proposal for a new Fford format, with a suggestion for the series to be made up of four Festival-style events proving largely unpopular.