Jumping straight from one series to another, Daryl DeLeon Taylor was back at Brands Hatch just a week after his British Endurance Championship (BEC) podium in a 911 GT3 Cup Car. For this occasion though he was competing in the Hagerty Radical Cup UK where he would finish in 1st twice and 2nd once to snatch the PRO SR3 points lead.
Round 2 of the 2023 championship utilized the full 3.916 km GP circuit, which took Daryl and Valour Racing only a day’s worth of running to fine tune the setup of his #2 Radical SR3 wrapped in a new red-and-grey livery. This gave the Filipino-British driver full confidence heading into Qualifying on Saturday morning where he managed to set the bar high early on with a 1:26.191 lap. However, he was unable to improve on his time as he was caught up in traffic during the closing stages and was pipped for pole position.
Still, it was good enough for a front row start in Race 1. Daryl immediately challenged for the lead as soon as the lights went out and got past pole sitter James Lay going into Druids. But their chase was interrupted twice due to lengthy Safety Car periods, leaving them with only a short 2-lap sprint to the finish where he secured his first PRO SR3 win.
Lay and Daryl were again side-by-side at the start of Race 2, except this time only one came out of Druids pointing at the right direction. The light contact slowed Daryl down, allowing Ben Caisley to sneak past into P1 before the Safety Car was called out on track. Caisley’s lead though was short lived after Daryl made a pass after the restart then took control of the race from that point on to claim another win.
The final race of the weekend was a long 40-minute endurance with a mandatory pitstop in between. Daryl found a way past Lay in the opening stages before focusing on setting quick, consistent laps to open up a gap. He needed to compensate for a 15 secs success penalty incurred from the previous event, which required him to stop longer in the pits. Despite his best efforts, Daryl found himself down in P11 when he rejoined and now had to muscle his way back to the front. The 17-year-old picked off the competition one after another while navigating through backmarkers as the laps ticked way. He eventually made is as high as 2nd, but could no longer reach Caisley in the lead when the race was red flagged.
His pair of wins and a podium at Brands Hatch GP allows Daryl DeLeon Taylor to surge into the PRO SR3 championship lead 29 points ahead of James Lay. The Hagerty Radical Cup UK will now head to Snetterton on May 20/21 as the 2023 season reaches its halfway point.
Daryl DeLeon Taylor: “Overall a really good weekend at Brands Hatch. Massive thank you to Valour Racing. The car they supplied me looked great with its new livery and was really fast. Good to come away with a pair of 1st place finishes and a 2nd, giving us the lead in the championship. We’re in a good position going into Round 3 at Snetterton, which is supporting the BTCC race in May.”
Daryl DeLeon Taylor is supported by Train Maintenance Services (TMS).
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