Robert Soroka’s 2023 Radical Cup North America series journey with the RySpec Racing Team saw him adapt to the Radical SR3, secure his first podium finish, and earn the Rookie of the Year award.
For the 2023 season, Robert Soroka joined the RySpec Racing Team to compete in the six-round Radical Cup North America series. The series occurred in a multi-class Le Mans-style racing format at some of North America’s largest and most prestigious tracks. The 2023 edition of the series featured top talents across Canada and the U.S., such as Nick Persing, Danny Dyszelski, and Austin Riley, who provided Soroka with a strong challenge and resulted in fantastic racing throughout the year.
The first round of action unfolded at NOLA Motorsports Park, marking Soroka’s transition from F4 to the Radical SR3. Despite the change, the RySpec Team equipped Soroka with a competitive car for the weekend. This allowed Soroka to adapt to the new series swiftly, demonstrating his potential and adaptability.
The second stop on the calendar was at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. This weekend was memorable for Soroka as he achieved his first podium finish in the series, firmly placing his name among the championship contenders. Despite the challenging course, Soroka held off Gregg Gorski to secure a second-place finish, a testament to his preparation with coach Racim Fezoui and Advanced Motorsports.
After a one-month break in the action, Soroka and 34 other drivers were back into the action in mid-June at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, in front of tons of fans during an IndyCar weekend. The newly repaved surface provided a new challenge for the drivers, and Soroka showed he was up to it by putting his car in a position to lead one of the races. Although Soroka fell short of winning he and the RySpec team continued to show their improvement with a second-place finish and another top-five finish.
At midway in the season, Soroka and the RySpec team had shown they could compete with the best and were charging their way up the championship standings. Toronto was the next race on the calendar, where a podium under treacherous conditions in the weekend’s first race, along with two top-four finishes, pushed Soroka towards P3 in the championship standings.
Soroka’s resilience was tested at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The extreme heat, reaching 60 °C on track, presented a new physical and mental challenge. Despite these conditions, Soroka showcased his perseverance, securing multiple podiums and recording the fastest lap in the weekend’s third race.
The pieces all came together for Soroka on the year’s final weekend at Laguna Seca, where he would claim his first Blue Marble Radical Cup win and his first car win entirely. This result had been something Robert was working for and dreaming of his entire career, and to see the pieces come together in the season’s final race was a fitting end to a fantastic season of racing. By the end of the season, Soroka had accumulated numerous podium finishes and a race win and was named Rookie of the Year for the series. Soroka and the RySpec crew gave it their all as the only Canadian team in the series, showing the vast potential for Canadian motorsport teams in the U.S. and worldwide.
