RADICAL Australia Cup Champion for 2014 Tim Berryman is basking in the glory of the seven-part series win after clinching victory in the final round at Sydney Motorsport Park earlier in the month.
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“It’s the first championship I’ve won, so it’s cool,” Berryman said, reflecting on the experience.
Tearing around the track at up to 285km/hr in a Radical SR8, Berryman has shaped up to dominate in a sport designed for daredevils.
“It’s very physical, you cop quite a beating over that distance,” he said.
“The g-force on your body is pretty incredible.”
Steering is second nature to Berryman, a farmer hailing from Stockinbingal, who drives a header for work during harvest, and steers nimble, open-top LeMans style race cars in his spare time.
Converting his passion for cars and all things fast into a success story has been a work in progress, and at the age of 37 after 15 years of competitive car racing he has finally nabbed a series win.
Berryman, a former Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship front-runner, switched to the Radical Australia cup last year after several seasons of limited competition due to his commitment to work.
Onto bigger, better and faster things, Berryman is prepared to make his name known on the international circuit.
“It was a massive high to finally pull it off and win a national series, and now we get to race in Europe for free,” Berryman said.
As the 2014 champion Berryman is being sponsored to drive with the British Factory Radical team in the European Radical Masters Championship, he has the choice of racing at any track on the European circuit.
Berryman has his sights set on Spa, a historic grand prix circuit in Belgium, built using public roads that twist and turn through the Ardennes hills forest.
A strong team-structure at RAW Racing - the ‘works’ team run out of the Radical Australia HQ at Sydney Motorsport Park - has helped Berryman’s campaign this year.
Berryman attributes his success this year to the hard work applied by the team, his partnership with British racing driver and mentor James Winslow, and a shred of good luck.
“At the last race of the last round we were behind on points, we actually crashed on the Friday practicing for the weekend.
“I had a tyre explode at 260(km/h) and took a whole side off the car. It did a lot of damage.
“We had to qualify the next day and race on the Saturday and Sunday.”
Berryman is of the opinion that only an experienced team could have bounced back from such a severe setback in the day prior to competition.
“I’ve been working with some pretty special guys,” he said.
With his head down, and hopes high Berryman’s commitment to the sport has undeniably played a role in his success as he undertakes a variety of training including cycling, mountain bike riding, gym exercises and running, and spends weekends in Sydney honing his fine motor skills on the track.
No doubt the man from Stock will be worth watching in the year to come, with his first race taking place at Bathurst in February.