If it weren’t for a 10 secs success penalty and a badly-timed Safety Car period on the final race, Daryl DeLeon Taylor would have had a perfect weekend when the 2023 Hagerty Radical Cup UK visited Oulton Park. But he can’t complain as his pair of victories was enough for him to regain the PRO SR3 championship lead as the reason reaches its halfway mark.
The Filipino-British driver was immediately on pace from the very first session on the 3.616 km Island Circuit. Valour Racing then used the opportunity to further fine tune the setup of his #2 red-and-silver Radical SR3, making it handle more to Daryl’s liking. This gave him full confidence heading into Qualifying and was quite content when he set a blistering 1:21.635 lap. But he was later pipped by then championship leader James Lay by only 0.105 secs to claim pole. Still, it was enough to give him a front row start and a clear run into the first corner.
Daryl went on attack mode as soon as the lights turned green and challenged for the lead in Race 1. He bravely went wheel-to-wheel with Lay, but ran out of road and inadvertently left the door wide open for several cars to pass. Although this dropped him down to P4, he made the most out of his speed to regain lost places and eventually caught up to Lay. After making a move for the lead, he put his head down and simply drove away to secure an easy win with a 10.203 secs advantage and the fastest lap of the race in tow.
Now starting from pole, Daryl enjoyed a lights-to-flag victory in Race 2… at least that’s how it looked like on paper. In reality though, he had to work hard for all 19 laps as Lay hounded his rear bumper all the way to the chequered flag. Daryl made his Radical SR3 as wide as possible to prevent his closest rival from getting past, earning him another race victory this time with only a slim 0.275 secs margin.
The final race on Sunday was not Daryl’s best moment. He and Lay once again opened up a distance from the rest of the grid and looked to be in for another showdown. Both stayed out for as long as possible before making their mandatory stop, but an unplanned Safety Car period spoiled their strategies and lost them a lot of ground. This was not helped by a lengthy success penalty Daryl had to serve in the pits, which saw him finish in a lowly 14th place.
Despite a disappointing Race 3, his pair of race wins allow Daryl DeLeon Taylor to regain the lead in the Drivers’ Standings with only 8 points separating him and James Lay.
Daryl DeLeon Taylor: “Brilliant weekend at Oulton Park with 2 wins out of 3 races. It really showed what we’re capable of. Although we missed out on Race 3 with the safety car period and success penalty, we’re still happy to have gotten the championship lead back. Again thank you to Valour Racing for giving me a brilliant car all weekend, my mom and dad for their support, and Tran Maintenance Services.”
Daryl DeLeon Taylor is supported by Train Maintenance Services (TMS).
For news and updates, Like the Daryl DeLeon Racing page on Facebook, follow @daryldeleon on Instagram, or visit daryltaylorracing.com.
