Stewart to make Radical debut in Perth
20 Apr 2022
Madeline Stewart will make her Radical Cup Australia debut at next weekend’s Bunnings Trade Perth SuperNight.
Stewart will drive an Arise Racing-backed Radical Cup car in dual races, as part of the supports schedule at Wanneroo Raceway.
The New Zealand-born driver recorded dual podiums in her first GT World Challenge event at Phillip Island earlier this month.
The Gold Coast-based racer has been competing in the Porsche Sprint Challenge with Earl Bamber Motorsport since 2021, with the new season to commence in May.
Now, the 21-year-old will get a taste of the one-make sports car class when it makes its maiden trip to the iconic Perth circuit.
“I'm very excited. I really love the Radical cars,” Stewart told Supercars.com.
“I find it so much fun to drive and it will be cool to be back at Wanneroo.
“I’m back racing with Arise, who my sister Ashleigh and I did a season in the Aus Formula 1000 with in 2019.
“Ashleigh also raced a Radical and I did a few days coaching in a Radical with BD [Soutar-Dawson] in my first year of car racing.
“We bumped into the team at Phillip Island when I raced a GT there a few weeks ago, and they got in touch and asked if we would be keen to go to Perth.
“For me, the biggest thing is doing a full race meeting before my first round of Porsche Sprint Challenge at the end of May.
“It’s good to get some race starts and get your eye back on a little bit.
“Racing is always different from testing. You can kind of do as many practice laps as you want, but it’s good to do testing as well as some racing.”
Stewart graduated from karting to Super3 with Brad Jones Racing in 2019, recording three top 10 finishes to place 14th in the series.
The rising female driver claimed her maiden Super3 podium at the 2020 season opener at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Stewart claimed a maiden Super3 podium in Sydney in 2020
After the Super3 and Porsche seasons were halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, Stewart contested the Aussie Tin Tops Support category, and won her class in Townsville.
Stewart's time in the Porsche Sprint Challenge began last year; the Earl Bamber Motorsport driver made her Carrera Cup debut at last December’s Repco Bathurst 1000.
Next weekend’s Radical Cup Australia field will see the local competitor base join forces with the best from the national series, with at least 12 local entries set to compete.
Chris Perini currently leads the series after claiming dual victories and a podium finish in the opening round at Phillip Island.
Despite having not driven a Radical in anger before, Stewart is relishing the challenge.
“We are just rocking up for practice on Friday,” Stewart said.
“We haven't done any kind of laps before then and I haven’t been to the circuit in a couple of years, but BD is a great coach.
“We'll probably go through a bit of footage and then just send me out in practice and keep evaluating it over the weekend.
“I’m quite used to being thrown into the deep end in different ways.
“The first-ever race car I drove was a Super3 car, so it's something I've always done.
“I think it's really good practice, to try and get your head around a car and a track quickly, it's a good skill to have.
“Everything we are doing at the moment is still about building up skills and learning more, so hopefully we will get some strong results.”
Radical Cup Australia will hit the track on Friday April 29 at 11:45am local time for the first of two practice sessions.
CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets for Western Australia’s only round of the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship.
Bunnings Trade Perth SuperNight will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 506 and streamed on Kayo.
The Seven Network will broadcast highlights on Saturday and Sunday.
