Team Italy completed an Historic Rally clean sweep at the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games as Andrea Zivian and co-driver Nicola Arena surged to victory in Sunday’s Medals Stage.
The duo entered the decider at Circuit Ricardo Tormo having already claimed gold across the separate Historic Rally Gravel stages on Friday before winning the Tarmac class on Saturday.
However, after 14 stages, it had been United Kingdom’s Ben Mellors and Alex Lee (competing in the mixed-surface category only) who topped the Overall leader board ahead of the Italians, with Team Spain’s Antonio Sainz / Carlos Cancela rounding out the top three.
The trio lined up side-by-side at the track for the 12.4-kilometre, three-lap showdown. Zivian made the most of the four-wheel-drive traction of his Audi quattro to launch quickest, before the three crews splintered off at the first corner to complete their different-length opening laps.
Having started his Toyota Celica in the outside lane, Mellors clipped a tyre stack at the end of his first tour – the Briton tackling the shortest route initially before finishing with the longest.
As the three drivers reached for their wipers on lap two as rain arrived, it was “Zippo” and Arena who emerged from the final corner with a commanding lead of 14.1s to snare the win, ensuring the Italians defended their Historic Rally gold medal achieved in the 2022 Games.
Mellors and Lee collected silver, as Team Spain’s Sainz and Cancela took home bronze for the host nation.