Peter Berryman has won the 2021 Force Dynamics Dallara iRacing Grand Prix Championship.
After 10 weeks of packed up, open-wheel racing at the highest level on the iRacing platform, Berryman was able to defeat Maarten van Loozenoord for the title.
In the final stint of the race, van Loozenoord led with Berryman and teammate Yohann Harth in tow. Berryman attempted a pass and van Loozenoord attempted to pinch it off. The two came together, and the result was a spinning van Loozenoord. The wins leader van Loozenoord did his best to catch back up, but fell short with a third place finish.
Berryman captured the 2021 title by eight points. It’s the second title in two days for the Apex Racing Team, fresh off of an iRX title with Jon Robertson on Wednesday.
TITLE FIGHTERS MIRED BEHIND AT RACE START
Both the Apex Racing Team and Predator Simracing group were represented on the front row in the finale, but neither would be the two drivers fighting for the 2021 championship. Yohann Harth led the field off of the starting line, but Przemyslaw Lemanek led the field into the first corner after a great jump off of the line. Harth fought back, taking the lead before the end of the lap.
Meanwhile the two title fighters were stuck in a fracas of opposing and friendly teammates. Up to third from the line, van Loozenoord had to make his way around the SDK Gaming, Apex aligned Michele Costantini. Back in sixth, Berryman was able to clear wannaBEE SRT driver David Toth as the Top 5 started to pull away.
Through the first stint, Harth led the front five while Berryman took up the rear. Pit strategies were mixed, with some drivers pitting early and others holding out, mainly due to the differing tire compound strategies. After the first round of pits, Costantini was lost from the main pack and it was down to two vs two.
THE CONTACT THAT CHANGED THE OUTCOME
For the majority of the second stint, Harth led the line with the two R8G Esports affiliates in second and third. Berryman, meanwhile, held the final spot in line, seemingly unable to make a move with the Predators lined up. Berryman opted for the undercut, pitting with 21 laps to go. A long stint for sure, but a chance the team felt was needed to overtake.
Harth came down the next lap, and in a last second decision, van Loozenoord came down with him. The move proved to be beneficial at the time for van Loozenoord as he jumped ahead of Harth for the start of the final stint. Berryman moved into the second spot, and the chase was on.
With just over 15 laps to go, Berryman went for a move on van Loozenoord for the championship lead. as the two rounded the corner, neither gave an inch. The end result was contact, and van Loozenoord was spun sideways. Berryman and Harth continued onward while van Loozenoord picked himself up and made a last ditch charge.
CONSISTENCY PREVAILS
It wasn’t a sure thing for Berryman after pulling away from the contact. There were others who had still yet to pit, such as Florian Lebigre, a R8G Esports driver. Things were civil as Berryman was able to get around him, but he picked up the back of the leader on the track, MB Racing Esport driver Jarl Teien.
Teien was also extending his final run, but was running fast enough to keep Berryman at bay. This allowed van Loozenoord and another R8G Esports teammate of his, Valentin Mandernach, to catch up to the second and third place drivers. Once Teien pitted, Berryman was gone. Possibly thanks to the racing that Harth did with Lemanek for the position, even when van Loozenoord picked up the third spot, it was just too late.
Berryman collected a third win, only half of what van Loozenoord was able to score through the season. The difference was consistency. When Berryman had a bad day, it was still a decent points day. When van Loozenoord had bad days, they were catastrophic, and that included a no-points day at Interlagos, a race that Berryman won.
TOP 10 RESULTS AT HUNGARORING
- 50 Peter Berryman – Apex Racing Team | 50 LAPS
- 90 Yohann Harth – Apex Racing Team +0:01.974 sec
- 69 Maarten van Loozenoord* – Predator Simracing +0:03.256 sec
- 11 Przemysław Lemanek – Predator Simracing +0:03.796 sec
- 46 Valentin Mandernach – R8G Esports +0:05.878 sec
- 9 Tamas Simon – Privateer +0:08.074 sec
- 98 Matteo Ugolotti – TQ Engineering +0:11.689 sec
- 8 David Toth – wannaBEE SRT +0:17.229 sec
- 6 Jarl Teien – MB Racing Esport +0:22.233 sec
- 02 Florian Lebigre – R8G Esports +0:25.067 sec
* – Fastest Lap
FINAL STANDINGS
- Peter Berryman – 197 points
- Maarten van Loozenoord – 189 points
- Yohann Harth – 166 points
- Michele Costantini – 108 points
- Ben Fuller – 103 points
- Matteo Ugolotti – 87 points
- David Toth – 87 points
- Tamas Simon – 79 points
- Valentin Mandernach – 69 points
- Florian Lebigre – 60 points
| DATE | TRACK |
| 16th September | Watkins Glen International | Winner: Maarten van Loozenoord |
| 23rd September | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | Winner: Michele Costantini |
| 30th September | Autódromo José Carlos Pace | Winner: Peter Berryman |
| 7th October | Autodromo Nazionale Monza | Winner: Maarten van Loozenoord |
| 14th October | Silverstone Circuit | Winner: Maarten van Loozenoord |
| 21st October | Hockenheimring Baden-Württemburg | Winner: Maarten van Loozenoord |
| 28th October | Road America | Winner: Maarten van Loozenoord |
| 4th November | Red Bull Ring | Winner: Peter Berryman |
| 11th November | Suzuka International Racing Course | Winner: Maarten van Loozenoord |
| 18th November | Hungaroring | Winner: Peter Berryman |
ON TO 2022 – PESC IS NEXT!
While details are unknown for the next open-wheel championship on the iRacing service, whether it returns to the Dallara IR-01 or if it might utilize the Mercedes-AMG Petronas 2021 W12 E Formula 1 car or the 2022 successor, both in the works at iRacing at this time.
For road racing fans, you won’t have to wait too long for the next road racing series on the iRacing platform. The Porsche Tag Heuer Esports Supercup returns in January of 2022, and the contender series just recently wrapped up to decide the final roster. We’ll be sure to have coverage once again here at Traxion.GG. Congratulations once again to Peter Berryman, the 2021 Force Dynamics Dallara iRacing Grand Prix Champion!
Check out some of the photos from the FDDiGPC finale down below. Keep it pinned!
