Ellis delighted with Brands Hatch podium (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Ellis delighted with Brands Hatch podium

10:26am Monday 6th June 2011 in Motorsport By Emma Spearing

Bradley Ellis was welcomed back to the Brands Hatch podium for round five of the Dunlop Radical UK Cup following a blistering 13-place drive to take his second consecutive championship third-place finish.

Ellis’ excellent form marked his return to his home track for the first time in four years while also securing back-to-back podiums following his first of the 2011 season at Oulton Park last month.

The 23 year-old delivered another impressive performance for round six, working his way up to third before his teammate brought the Supreme Racing Radical SR3 home in a solid seventh place, earning more valuable championship points.

Brands Hatch welcomed a bumper 29-car grid for the combined British and European rounds this weekend but Ellis established himself as one of the race-winning contenders by topping the timesheets in practice on Saturday.

Qualifying didn’t quite deliver the results he was hoping for yet Ellis still set the fifth fastest time despite struggling with severe oversteer while teammate Andy Cummings managed 19th for his first ever race on the challenging, iconic Kent Grand Prix circuit.

In stark contrast to Saturday’s sunny weather, Sunday saw damp conditions greet the grid for round five. Cummings made a solid start but couldn’t get far before the first of three safety cars that would litter his stint came into play on lap two.

Cummings moved up from 18th to 14th at the re-start only for another full-course yellow to hinder his progress on lap five. Paying immediate attention to the safety car boards, he lost two places as other drivers weren’t quite as diligent, pushing Cummings down to 17th place. The stewards later declared the possible infringement as too close to call and no action was taken.

Racing resumed with 24 minutes remaining, finally allowing the Supreme Racing Radical to get in the racing flow and Cummings did well to work his way up to 16th before taking the opportunity to pit in the third safety car period.

Ellis eventually got up to race pace with 13 minutes remaining and mounted one of his characteristic charges through the field.

The former British GT Champion took two places at Paddock Hill Bend to help him start his healthy overtaking tally, finishing the first green racing lap 12th. Charging on, he took a further four positions by the end of lap 15 and six slots within the following two laps to lie an astonishing forth within four laps.

His sights were then set on European racer Junior Strous and Ellis made light work of cutting the two second deficit in two laps before taking third on lap 20, securing yet another podium finish at his home circuit.

The outstanding performance which underlined Ellis’ champion pedigree also cemented his podium perfect record at Brands Hatch over the last five years.

With the weather deteriorating, a wet track awaited the Radical runners for round six. Regardless, Ellis relished the conditions and soon resumed his lightening form to take fourth going into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time.

He then set about hunting down Rob Wheldon in the hope of scoring a double home podium. The Croydon-born racer quickly closed the 1.5-second gap to just a few tenths and lined-up a perfect pass on the exit of Surtees on lap nine. But, by that time, second-placed Alex Kapadia was nearly eight seconds down the track.

Although Ellis managed to reduce the margin to just 1.8-seconds within two laps, he ran out of time and had to pit and pass the reigns to his teammate.

Facing his first full wet Radical UK Cup race, Cummings sensibly took his time to acclimatise to the conditions before beginning to push, and coped well to bring the car home in seventh place to secure solid championship points.

Ellis commented: “It’s great to be back on the podium at Brands Hatch. The Grand Prix circuit is one of my favourite UK tracks and it’s been too long since I last raced here. To take back-to-back third-place finishes and Radical rostrums is really good especially for our championship chances.

“We did have some ups and downs this weekend. Practice went really well but we had a disappointing qualifying session as there was a significant imbalance in the car. We didn’t have the right set-up on new tyres which meant we didn’t get the best out of our fresh set.

“That’s mainly due to a lack of testing so it was a valuable learning experience. Our race set-up is pretty much nailed but now we need to focus on our qualifying set-up.

“I really enjoyed charging through the field in race one. We had some tricky conditions for race two but I enjoyed it. The track conditions changed at every corner, you didn’t know if it would be wet, dry or muddy, so you had to be on top of your game while still pushing.

“Andy did well to cope and was sensible to get acclimatised and not risk anything before he started to push and his pace improved throughout his stint. All-in-all we’ve got some valuable points this weekend.”

For full race results visit www.radicalsportscars.com