Paul Radisich back behind the wheel

Touring-car legend Paul Radisich returns to racing for Leadfoot Festival

A surprise inclusion to this year’s Leadfoot Festival in Hahei was a twin-turbo Aegis Oil Toyota Supra driven by Paul Radisich — both car and driver ending their own respective competitive hiatuses.

“My father Frank and Peter van Breugel built [the Supra] for Targa. Graeme Lawrence and Frank drove it together, and that was about ten years ago. It did that then sat in mothballs at Peter’s garage for that length of time,” Radisich told Driven.

“We thought we’d get the car back, prepped, and bring it out for a bit of club racing and this type of thing. Other than that it’s just sat around really. [...] We decided that we’d come up and have a run, we didn’t even bring any wet-weather tyres or anything, so Pirelli have helped us out with a set of tyres, and slicks, and here we are.”

Photo / Matthew Hansen

Radisich himself has been out of the driver’s seat for several years, after two back-to-back shunts in the V8 Supercars at Bathurst in 2006 and 2008 hobbled his touring car career.

While both incidents were scary, the 2008 crash while driving for the HSV Dealer Team with Rick Kelly was particularly damaging — a jamming throttle directing Radisich into Bathurst’s concrete at McPhillamy Park. The Kiwi was rescued from the car with two fractured ankles, cracked ribs, a fractured lumbar and thoracic vertebrae, bruised lungs, and injuries sustained during his last big crash were brought back to the fore.

It cut short a career which began in open-wheelers, before blossoming into a memorable career in touring cars. Radisich joined noted car builder Andy Rouse and Ford for an assault on the British Touring Car Championship in 1993. While they were never able to claim the crown, ‘The Rat’ came as close as anyone else over ’93 and ’94. His speed was properly rewarded at the end of each season with wins in the high-profile World Touring Car Cup.

Photo / Matthew Hansen

Over time, Ford's Mondeo became less competitive, and, after a brief excursion with MSD’s Peugeot 406 in 1998, Radisich decided to shift himself and his family back to Australia after taking up a role with Dick Johnson Racing in the V8 Supercars championship. He would achieve three round wins and multiple race wins with the squad over the next three seasons — his 2001 sweep at Barbagallo Raceway and a nail-biting Queensland 500 title were firm highlights.

Since his accident in 2008, Radisich has only recently returned to racing — albeit on a smaller scale.

“I’ve done my 25 years of international motor racing, so I’m just doing it just for fun. It’s time to bring the family and enjoy the days where could couldn’t do that. This sort of event that Rod’s put on enables you to do that, it’s relaxed, and purely just fun.”

But despite the focus on fun and spontaneous preparation, Radisich and the Supra were exceptionally quick. The humble duo was able to crack the top-ten overall, nestled among a fancied array of four-wheel drive, rally and hill climb–orientated machinery.

Photo / Matthew Hansen

Qualifying in tenth for the final fling on Millen’s challenging course, Radisich threw down his best pass of the day; a scintillating 0:54.98. The time would prove competitive enough for eighth overall, 3.6-seconds behind Rod Millen’s Pikes Peak Toyota Celica’s time, and more than five seconds behind eventual winner Rhys Millen in his Global RallyCross Hyundai Veloster.

Despite his casual approach, Radisich would love the chance to go even quicker in the surprising Supra, hoping to eventually haul the car into the high-49s or very low 50s if he were to return for a second tilt.

“It’s probably got a 0:53 in it if you’ve got everything right, but that’s a pretty good time for that type of car. I think the four-wheel drive Nissans, Godzillas and things were running 58s.”

“Oh you can’t help [wanting to go quicker]. That goes without saying. If you came back next year, you’d want to be doing a 50, or a 40-something.”