NEW CONTENDERS FOR BIKESPORTS CROWN
M it tell cars an dab performance will enter new cars in bike sports this year.
Unless a driver was at the wheel of a Radical PR6 or SR3 in the 750 Motor Club’s Bikesports series in recent seasons it arguably hasn’t been worth turning up to race, such has been the dominance of those models in the category.
But that could be about to change in 2019 as two cars, produced by Mittell Cars and AB Performance respectively, could bring Radical’s reign of dominance in the category to an end.
Mittell Cars has produced the MC-41R, which broke cover for the first time at Autosport International last week, and has been developed by Scott Mittell along with father Ian for the marque’s first foray into Bikesports.
The established team has had great success in the 750MC’S RGB Sports 1000 series, winning the championship in 2015 and finishing runner-up in 2017, but a greater freedom in the Bikesports regulations has prompted the new venture.
“It’s [Bikesports] a brilliant category, there’s a lot more freedom in it compared to the RGB,” says Scott Mittell who will drive the new car this season.
“The beauty of RGB is that it is so tightly restricted and things like that which make great racing, but from a design point of view and wanting to go faster point of view it’s [Bikesports] a lot more free.
“We can put some underbody aerodynamics on it and we can make it a central seat car which we couldn’t do in RGB and put a wing on the back and put slick tyres on. So it’s a chance to make it the quickest thing we can do with a 1000 [cc engine].”
While there are obvious differences when it comes to the aerodynamics and appearance of the MC-41R and Radicals, perhaps the biggest difference between them is in the back.
The PR6S and SR3S use a 1300+cc Hayabusa engine but the latest model to come from Mittell will be powered by a Suzuki GSXR1000 superbike engine.
It’s a similar story at AB Performance, which like Mittell has enjoyed success in the RGB series with Matthew Higginson taking a class win in 2015 and overall title the following year aboard a AB Arion S2.
Although initially released three years ago the company’s second generation Sabre Escala will be making its first assault on the Bikesports category and like the MC-41R will use a 1000cc engine, the CBR1000RR.
The cars will be driven by Joe Wiggin and Steve Bell, with a first generation Escala but with updated bodywork driven by Adrian Moore.
“To be fair it’s two different size hammers to crack the same problem,” says owner of AB Performance, Andy Bates, when comparing his Escalas to the Radicals.
“We’ve done a lot of work with [former Williams, Ferrari and Lotus] Formula 1 designer Enrique Scalabroni and the first question he asked me was ‘when you’re designing a car how much horsepower can you afford to lose with top-body aero?’ and the answer was minimal.
“Our car is very much an underfloor car, it gets more aero off the floor and so there’s far less drag attached to it.
“I think we might lack the same speed coming out of the corner as the Radicals but I’m confident it’s a match for its straightline speed.
“The Radical has bigger torque and bigger wings but for us we’re trying to do it more economical from a price and aero point of view.”
For Mittell as well, the idea and challenge behind using a less powerful engine has been to save costs while remaining competitive.
“When we were looking at Bikesports the obvious thing is people go out and buy a PR6 or SR3 and you’ve got a big 1300/1400 Hayabusa engine in it,” Mittell says.
“The problem is you go and get one of those engines rebuilt and you’re spending a lot of money. I mean to go and buy one of the Hayabusa engines you’re looking at least £11-12,000 and that’s not the high spec numbers, some of them are £17,000.
“We know the 1000cc engine really well from RGB, we know it’s a really good engine and our thoughts were we can go into the Bikesports in the lower weight category with that 1000cc and see if we can compete on a much more limited budget engine.
“You can buy a second hand GRS6000 engine for around £2000 and if you want to get it rebuilt the rebuild is around £2000 again so even if you buy an engine and get it rebuilt and start fresh you’re paying £4000 for an engine.”
Both Mittell and Bates are under no illusions that it will take time to beat the Radicals but are confident their respective machinery is up to the challenge.
“I think we will be up there and we won’t disgrace ourselves. We have got a lot to learn with the F3 tyres but we’re fast learners,” adds Bates.
Mittell says: “In terms of pace we know where we are with an RGB car, we know where we would be in the Bikesports championship with an RGB car on road tyres so we’re working off that and fitting F3 slicks on it, a big wing on the back bit more aero underneath and we’re hoping to be there [on pace].
“You can’t buy a new PR6 anymore so Radical are not interested in the PR6, they’ve washed their hands of those. They’re a good car but all the ones out there are getting quite old so if we can sort of replace that but with a cheaper engine and go just as fast then there should be a market there.”
A market there certainly will be if either the MC-41R or Sabre Escala can take the Bikesports mantle from Radical.