Derby students race to Radical Cup UK Championship success

Team Derby Motorsport is celebrating its biggest motorsport success to date after securing the 2026 Radical Cup UK Championship with Scottish racing drive Gordie Mutch.  

The student engineered race team clinched the title at Donington Park, with Mutch taking victory in the penultimate race of the weekend before a second-place finish in the season finale capping off an impressive campaign.

Across the season, the team – with the experienced Mutch as driver - delivered an exceptional run of results, winning four of the opening five championship events before heading into the final round with a narrow points advantage.

Using skills developed on the University’s Motorsport Engineering course, Team Derby Motorsport has delivered consistent pace, operational excellence and engineering development, putting their academic knowledge into practice as they supported the car in competition.

Gordie Mutch said:

“It’s been an awesome year and the students at the University of Derby have done an amazing job.  

“What makes this achievement noteworthy is that the race-winning operation was run entirely by students from the University’s Motorsport engineering programme, who assumed responsibilities typically undertaken by professional race engineers and mechanics.

“The car has been faultless all year, so massive credit to the students who have been prepping and engineering the car this season.”  

The Radical Cup UK is one of the country’s premier prototype racing championships, featuring high-performance Radical SR3 machinery and attracting a grid of experienced and up-and-coming competitors from across the UK and beyond.

The season extended beyond domestic competition; the University of Derby team also competed on the international stage, taking part in the Radical Europe Cup in Barcelona and the prestigious Radical World Finals where the team finished just 0.2 seconds behind the winner.  

Andrew Menzies, Lecturer in Motorsport Engineering at the University of Derby, said:

"This championship success demonstrates exactly what can be achieved when academic knowledge is combined with real-world motorsport experience. Our students have not simply observed a professional racing team; they have become one.

"Throughout the season they have been exposed to the pressures, the decision-making and technical challenges that exist at the highest levels of customer motorsport. To contribute to a championship-winning campaign and compete for victory on the world stage is an experience that will open doors for them for the rest of their careers."

Motorsport Engineering at Derby is accredited by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, ensuring a high standard of teaching and industry relevant content. This win for Team Derby Motorsport highlights how Derby’s practice-based programmes lead to student success.  

Taught by academic and technical teams that are actively working within the motorsport industry, graduates have gone on to work with the Renault F1 team, Pirelli and Jaguar Land Rover.  

Students get to learn in state-of-the-art facilities at Derby including computer labs where they can work on the simulation aspect of vehicle dynamics, a wind tunnel, test engine and industry-standard motorsport workshop equipped with numerous race vehicles, engines and gearboxes to work on.  

Adam Pointon, a Third-Year Motorsport Engineering student who has worked on the Radical Cup UK series, said:

“Working on the Radical Cup UK programme has been the highlight of my time at university so far.

“There's no substitute for the experience of engineering and operating a race car in a championship environment where every decision matters.

"The opportunity to apply all the concepts from vehicle dynamics, race engineering and simulation techniques we’ve learned directly at the circuit and has accelerated my development enormously. 

“Being part of a championship-winning team while still studying is an experience that very few engineering students get to enjoy." 

 
Find out more about studying Motorsport Engineering