Alpine Sim Racing secured its first-ever 1-2 finish in the F1 Sim Racing World Championship on Thursday, to elevate the outfit to the top of the Teams’ standings.

A brilliant drive by Otis Lawrence netted the Welshman his third victory of the season and extended his points lead in the Drivers’ Championship. In a tactical masterclass, the team’s strategy at Austin proved unbeatable, with Dani Bereznay taking second place in a memorable night for the whole team.

“This is amazing, what a result!” said a delighted Otis after the race. “These guys in my team are just fantastic. We have been perfect through the event, Dani, as well as Josh, they are brilliant drivers and we have so much chemistry together. Morale is amazing and while it’s good to have more points in the championship, it’s not over until it’s over.”

The final race of Event 3, at Formula 1’s Media & Technology Centre, took place at the Circuit of the Americas, where Dani lined up second on the grid, just 0.001s off pole. With Otis starting third, both Alpine drivers moved into the top two positions with a neatly orchestrated opening corner. They traded places on the back straight on lap five, and managed the pit stop cycle to maintain first and second to the flag.

Second-placed Dani was equally delighted with his performance:

“It’s my first podium of the season, which I’m really happy about, but I’m more satisfied with the Team points we scored,” said the Hungarian. “Otis is leading the Drivers by quite a good margin, but we still have three races to go and we have seen how quickly things can turn around in Sim Racing.”

Prior to Austin, it had been a challenging Event 3, especially with the rain at Spa-Francorchamps and Zandvoort. Qualifying at Spa was particularly tricky, with drivers gambling on slicks in the final part of Q3. As the Alpine duo stayed on Intermediates, it meant Dani and Otis found themselves in 6th and 9th positions on the starting grid.

Despite being squeezed at La Source at the start, Otis survived the opening lap and gained a place on his starting position. Thereafter, his focus was on making up positions and he was seventh by lap seven, just one place behind Dani.

With the rain stopping and a dry line emerging, Otis pitted on lap 11 for slicks and started his charge in the second half of the race. Three laps from the end, Otis made a move at Les Combes to grab fourth place, while Dani came home fifth.

At Zandvoort on Thursday afternoon, there was drama in the final moments of qualifying. Otis had already delivered a strong lap under pressure in Q2 to progress, but with a chance of pole, he carried too much speed and spun at the final corner. With the margins at Zandvoort so close, it meant that despite only being 0.094s off pole, he lined up fifth on the grid. Josh Idowu stepped in for Dani for the Netherlands race and started P8.

Overtaking is notoriously difficult at the tight and twisty Zandvoort and in a relatively incident-free race for Otis, he held fifth off the start, pitted with the leaders on lap 12, and remained in that position to the end. Josh was given a three-second time penalty — later rescinded by the stewards — but was still classified P17.

Leaving Event 3, after nine rounds, Otis sits at the top of the Drivers’ Championship with 128 points, 27 clear of second place, while Alpine Sim Racing has a 14-points margin at the top of the Teams’ Championship. The final three races are scheduled for 27-28 May.