| Paul Radisich | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Radisich in 1995 | |
| Nationality |  New Zealander |
| Born | (1962-10-09)9 October 1962 (age 62) Auckland,New Zealand |
| Retired | 2008 |
| Related to | Frank Radisich (father) Matthew Radisich (nephew) |
| V8 Supercar | |
| Years active | 1999-2008 |
| Teams | Dick Johnson Racing Briggs Motor Sport Triple Eight Race Engineering Team Kiwi Racing HSV Dealer Team |
| Starts | 106 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Best finish | 4th in2000 Shell Championship Series |
| Previous series | |
| 1982-90 1982-84 1984 & 86 1987-88 1991 1993-98 1995 2002-08 | New Zealand Formula Pacific Australian Drivers' Champ. British Formula 3 Formula Super Vee US Formula Atlantic British Touring Cars South Africa Touring Cars New Zealand V8s |
| Championship titles | |
| 1988 1988 1993 1994 | New Zealand Grand Prix New Zealand Formula Pacific Touring Car World Cup Touring Car World Cup |
Paul Francis Wade Radisich[1] (born 9 October 1962, inAuckland) is a retiredNew Zealandracing driver and businessman ofCroat origin. He has competed in saloon cars for many years — both European-style tourers and the V8 Supercars of Australia and New Zealand.
In 1983 he wasFormula Atlanticrunner-up, earning the prestigious Driver To Europe award. In 1985 and 1986 he raced inBritish Formula 3, alongsideDamon Hill. He later raced inIndy Lights andFormula Super Vee with some success, before finishing second in the1990 Bathurst 1000. This led him towards racing saloon cars full-time.
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He won the1993 and1994Touring Car World Cup events atMonza and atDonington respectively. 1993 was his firstBritish Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season, in aFord Mondeo prepared byAndy Rouse. He finished 3rd in the series despite only competing in half the year. He would again drive for Andy Rouse in 1994 where he finished 3rd again behindGabriele Tarquini for Alfa Romeo andAlain Menu for Renault. Radisich would again drive for Andy Rouse in 1995 but by the end of the 1995 season the car had reached the end of its development cycle and was increasingly uncompetitive during the end of the 1995 season and in the 1996 season whenWest Surrey Racing took over the Ford team from Andy Rouse. 1996 would be a disappointment for the Ford team with no podium places and Radisich finishing 13th in the championship. 1997 would see a new Mondeo however it too was uncompetitive, and would not challenge the front running teams. In 1998 he raced forPeugeot where he again had a disappointing season. He left the series and went to race forDick Johnson Racing in theV8 Supercar series inAustralia.[2]
At the end of the 2004 season, Radisich entered the BTCC Masters event at Donington, and was considering a comeback to the BTCC the following year, but he instead chose to continue his racing career down under.[3]
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In 1999 he joinedDick Johnson Racing replacing the departedJohn Bowe. He remained with Dick Johnson Racing until the end of 2002. In 2003 he joinedBriggs Motor Sport which was later sold to British outfitTriple Eight Race Engineering in 2004. In total he has four race wins and eight other podium results in the championship.
He surprised a lot of people by signing for the patrioticTeam Kiwi Racing for 2 years in 2005 racing in a Holden for the first time, helping the team to their first ever podium finish atShanghai International Circuit in China, (third). He finished the 2005 season in 14th place, TKR's highest ever finish in a Supercar season.[4]
In the2006 Supercheap Auto 1000 endurance race at Mount Panorama he had a major crash at around 200 km/h in The Chase. While attempting to overtakeNathan Pretty he ran wide into the dirt and could not brake in time and careered into a tyre wall head on, flipping the car onto its side. Rescue teams had to cut the roof off the car in order to get him out. He was then taken to a nearby hospital and then flown to a hospital inSydney for further scans. He broke hisankle andsternum in the crash and missed the remainder of the season.
In November 2006 it was confirmed that Radisich had signed for a further 2 years with TKR and would once again be back racing in a Ford for 2007–08. He has commented that he has unfinished business in V8 Supercars.
Paul returned to the cockpit at Barbagallo for the first time since Bathurst, to the delight of many fans. He had a very good result at Pukekohe, the final round to be held at that circuit, finishing 7th in the third race.
Ford Performance Racing terminated its contract to supply and service the TKR Falcon on 31 May 2007. Paul Radisich said he had terminated his contract with TKR following the team's fallout with Ford Performance Racing that ran the car on behalf of TKR."TKR is in breach of contract and I have therefore terminated my contract with immediate effect."[5]
The New Zealand international joined fellow KiwiCraig Baird and regular driversRick Kelly andGarth Tander in theToll HSV ranks for the big endurance races in September and October.
The formal announcement was put on hold until Carrera Cup star and Bathurst rookie David Reynolds was signed and sealed with Super Cheap Auto Racing for the enduros. Reynolds had been in line for a drive with Toll HSV in the big races in September and October, but was happy to transfer to Super Cheap for his V8 Supercar debut without the potential pressure of a fellow drivers championship hanging over him.
At Sandown, Paul was paired with Championship front-runner, Rick Kelly. The car was qualified by Rick Kelly, and they started from 8th position on the grid. Paul and Rick Kelly drove the Number 1 Toll HSV Commodore to 2nd place, 2.8 seconds behind Triple Eight Racing's Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.
At Bathurst, Paul was paired with Craig Baird. After qualifying 9th after the top-10 shootout, Paul and Craig Baird started strongly, and were running on the fringe of top 10 for the majority of the race, slowed by persistent braking problems which also afflicted their more illustrious team-mates. Ultimately, the team withdrew from the race on lap 137 of 161 so as not to risk damaging Tander and Kelly's race cars for the championship battle to come.
Returning to the team in 2008, Radisich crashed heavily during practice for the2008 Bathurst 1000, after the throttle jammed open at McPhillamy Park Corner, hitting the concrete wall in a gap in the tyre barriers. Radisich fractured both ankles, reopened the fractured sternum sustained in an accident two years prior, fractured lumbar and thoracic vertebrae, cracked ribs and suffered bruising to his lungs. His recovery has been protracted and brought an end to his motor racing career.[6]
Paul raced aFord Mustang S550 in the invitational non-championship Class Three of the2018-19 BNT V8 Championship[7]
He was team manager of the Super Black Racing team[8] until the team was disbanded at the end of the 2016 season. He is managing director of New Zealand oil company Aegis Oil, a company founded by his father Frank.[9]
Paul is the in-studio co-host of theBritish Touring Car Championship segment ofTV3's CRC Motorsport with Shaun Summerfield.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Bryce Racing BMW | BMW 325i | MNZ | JAR | DIJ | NÜR | SPA | BNO | SIL | BAT | CLD | WEL ovr:10 cls:4† | FJI | NC | 0 |
† Not eligible for points.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Bill Bryce Racing | BMW M3 | BAT NC | WEL Ret | PUK Ret | FJI | NC | 0 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position - 1 point awarded all races 1996 onwards) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap - 1 point awarded 1998 only)
† Not eligible for points due to being an endurance driver.
‡ Endurance driver.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Autotech Racing Team | BMW M3 Sport Evolution | JTC-2 | AID | AUT | SUG | SUZ | MIN | TSU 23 | SEN | FUJ 7 | 18th | 23 |
*Super Touring race
Paul Radisich 4 wins, 5 poles, 3 fastest laps
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Winner of theNew Zealand Grand Prix 1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by none | Winner of theFIA World Touring Car Cup 1993-1994 | Succeeded by |
