The latest news from the FIA Motorsport Games
Find out the latest updates from the third edition of the FIA Motorsport Games which will be held in Valencia, Spain, from October 23-27.
Cross Car Mini: Spain Celebrates as the New Category Shines
October 27, 2024
In the first ever Cross Car Mini competition at the FIA Motorsport Games, Hugo Fuertes took home the gold medal for Team Spain, meaning the host nation scored a medal in all three Cross Car Categories.Fuertes battled Merel Hoogstra from Team Netherlands in a shootout and the two buggies even bumped side-to-side at the start of the second Final race in competitive fashion. Fuertes ultimately prevailed with Hoogstra securing the silver medal.
The bronze medal decider featured a photo finish between Team Canada’s Ava Cabral and Team Czechia’s Michal Hrčka. Cabral won the first of two Final races and trailed Hrčka on the final lap of Race 2. However, Cabral pulled alongside her rival in the final corners and made a photo-finish pass at the chequered flag.
Karting Mini: Portugal prevail in fantastic Final
October 27, 2024
Team Portugal claimed a brilliant gold medal in the Karting Mini Final as Xavier Lázaro prevailed at the end of pulsating 11-lap battle.
The inaugural running of the Karting Mini category at the FIA Motorsport Games has proved to be one of the most exciting spectacles on the entire schedule with wheel-to-wheel action taking place throughout the weekend.
The first-ever Karting Mini Final continued that theme as Portugal’s Lázaro took a hard earned and well-deserved victory.
Lázaro had enjoyed an event-long rivalry with Team USA’s Joshua Bergman with the pair being separated by around a tenth of a second in no fewer than two of the previous Heats.
Despite Lázaro getting the better of Bergman in those particular duels, it was the American who started on pole for the Final by virtue of his cumulative results across three Heats.
Bergman made a solid start and held P1 before Team Spain’s Nuvola Morales Mendez came through to lead. That’s where the drama began as a concertina effect bumped the leading karts together, leaving Bergman without momentum and dropping down the order.
Team Portugal and Spain traded places on a number of occasions with Team Australia’s Jay Kostecki also enjoying a brief spell at the front, but the moment of truth came on lap nine as Lázaro finally made his move stick.
The young gun went on to win as the action unfolded behind in the battle for second.
When the dust settled, and the karts crossed the finish line for the final time, it was Lázaro winning from the impressive Estonian Bennet Korjus while Morales Mendez completed the podium for Spain.
Auto Slalom: Slovakia earns redemptive gold
October 27, 2024
Vanquished in the final two years ago, Michaela Dorčíková and David Nemcek returned to this year’s FIA Motorsport Games with a single objective: win Auto Slalom gold for Slovakia.
After a series of impressive performances in Qualifying, the Slovak squad looked to be a major threat to pre-event favourite Germany. Having swept the Electric Street discipline in 2022 and then secured Karting Slalom honours this morning, the German squad was on for an historic fourth gold. Defending winner Claire Schonborn was back, though with a new teammate in Markus Firsching.
Most had anticipated a repeat of the 2022 Final, but it was not to be, with the match-up instead falling in the Semi-Finals. Slovakia edged it by 1.2 seconds, despite a typically strong showing from Schonborn. In the other Semi, Estonia beat Israel by five seconds to set up meeting with Slovakia.
Estonia’s Kristian Hallikmägi was the fastest driver on Course 1 and Course 2, but the consistency of Dorčíková and Nemcek was enough to secure Slovakia’s win. Dorčíková was in tears as she celebrated her nation’s first-ever gold medal at the FIA Motorsport Games. In the bronze medal match-up, Germany saw off Israel to take the consolation prize.
Results: Final
Formula 4: High five! Spain secures fifth gold medal
October 27, 2024
Team Spain secured its fifth gold medal of the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games thanks to a dominant performance from Juan Cota Alonso.
Having battled his way to pole during yesterday’s Qualifying Race, the home hero proved unshakeable in the Final, leading from lights-to-flag to boost his country’s chances of finishing top of this year’s medal table.
Cota Alonso made a strong start to head the pack into turn one, as Team Peru’s Andres Cardenas, Sri Lanka’s Yevan David and Reza Seewooruthun in the Team United Kingdom car slotted into formation behind.
Bidding to become the first driver ever to secure golds in two different categories at the Games following his Karting Sprint Jr title in 2022, Cardenas pushed the Spain car hard, getting alongside through turn two before Cota Alonso fended him off.
There was a brief Safety Car after Czechia and Greece collided, but Cota Alonso pulled clear at the restart, controlling a gap of just over a second to take honours. Puru was second, with United Kingdom grabbing bronze after Sri Lanka was hit with a penalty for track limits that dropped David to 11th in the final order. Ariel Elkin was fourth for Israel, ahead of Tosei Moriyama for Japan.
🥇 HIGH FIVE FOR SPAIN! 🇪🇸
Spain secures its fifth gold of the 2024 @fia Motorsport Games, as Juan Cota Alonso took a controlled victory in the #Formula4 finale.
🥈 Peru 🇵🇪
🥉 United Kingdom 🇬🇧#FIAMotorsportGames pic.twitter.com/OCI44jfpe2
— FIA Motorsport Games (@fiamgames) October 27, 2024
Karting Slalom: Team Germany keeps its nerve and retains the gold
October 27, 2024
Germany has successfully defended its Karting Slalom gold medal by triumphing in today’s Final at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Two years on from its victory in France with Annika Spielberger and Sebastian Romberg, the new German crew of Maja Braun and Louis Stange took their place on the top step of the podium with a typically metronomic showing.
The Semi-Final match-ups saw Germany overcome Poland while Hungary defeated the Netherlands. In the Small Final, the Dutch enjoyed a comfortable win over Poland as Oliver Jansen and Senna Bison secured victory by more than 13 seconds. Jansen was quickest on both courses to secure bronze for his nation.
The Final was a much closer affair. The defending gold medallist did not have it easy, edging the Hungarians by a little over a second. Indeed, it was Hungary’s Balázs Sturcz who produced the fastest combined Course 1 time of 1m41.455s, while Anna Benedek posted the best lap on Course 2.
But overall the Germans were superior on Course 2, incurring no penalties and securing the gold medal by a shade over a second. It comes after the same nation swept the Electric Street discipline in 2022, a feat it could still match at the 2024 edition.
Result: Semi-Final | Final
GT Sprint: Güven lays down a marker to put Team Türkiye on pole
October 27, 2024
Ayhancan Güven will start this afternoon’s GT Sprint medal race from pole position after a commanding Qualifying performance from the Team Türkiye driver.
Güven topped the opening session aboard his Porsche 911 GT3 R, meaning he would run last in the deciding Super Pole shootout. A 1m30.943s was enough to confirm his status as the fastest man at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Finn Wiebelhaus qualified second for Germany, taking full advantage of the extra track time from yesterday’s GT contest. He was 0.297s shy of Güven, but 0.195s ahead of local favourite Daniel Juncadella (Team Spain Mercedes-AMG). This trio has a clear pace advantage over the rest of the field.
Darren Leung will start fourth in the Team United Kingdom Ferrari. He beat Jazeman Jafaar (Team Malaysia Lamborghini), who caused the second of two red flag stoppages by sliding into the gravel during Super Pole. Next up were Chinese Taipei (Mercedes-AMG), United Arab Emirates (Porsche) and Latvia (Audi).
The medal race gets underway at 15:00.
Karting: Grids set for Karting Finals
October 27, 2024
With Karting Endurance kicking off the first of the medal races at Aspar Circuit yesterday, today is the turn of Karting Mini, Karting Sprint Jr and Karting Sprint Sr.
All three categories had one remaining Heat outstanding on Sunday morning, with the results contributing to the grid positions for each Final.
The breathtaking duel between Portugal’s Xavier Lázaro and USA’s Joshua Bergman continued in Karting Mini this morning as the pair crossed the line separated by just 0.136s seconds, following on from yesterday’s side-by-side finish.
Two-time Heat winner Bennet Korjus will certainly have something to say in the fight for silverware too as he will separate both Bergman and Lázaro on the grid for today’s Final.
Another threat from the other side of the draw could come from final Heat winner Rivaan Dev Preetham, as the Team India talent held off a gaggle of karts to claim victory.
Team Türkiye’s İskender Zülfikari again proved to be the class of the field in Karting Sprint Jr, winning Heat 3 to claim pole position for today’s Final, although home fans will be hoping that Team Spain’s Bosco Arias can overhaul his rival.
The dominance of Ruben Moya Lopez continued in Karting Sprint Sr as the Team Spain star added another Heat victory to his collection, cruising to pole position for the Final.
A few hours of preparation will follow before the trio of prize giving Finals commence from 13:05 CET.
Touring Car: Italy’s pain becomes Argentina’s gain
October 27, 2024
Team Italy appeared to have secured gold in Sunday’s Touring Car Final, only for Marco Butti’s car to be stripped of the result due to a technical infringement post-race. That handed Team Argentina driver Ignacio Montenegro not only his country’s first gold of the FIA Motorsport Games, but its first-ever medal of any type.
Butti started the race back in ninth after a penalty for track limit violations during Saturday’s Qualifying Race, but this time kept things within the lines to climb the order and challenge pole-sitter Montenegro for the lead in the closing stages. The two banged doors as they battled with less than 10 minutes remaining, with Butti finding a way past to take the win on the road. However, inspections after the race led to the car being disqualified, and Argentina being promoted to the gold medal place.
That was just the start of the podium shuffle as Team Spain, which initially took bronze, was penalised for contact. That, and Italy’s exclusion, elevated Brazil’s Raphael Reis to second behind Argentina, and Czechia’s Adam Kout into third.
Argentina becomes the third different Touring Car gold medallist in as many FIA Motorsport Games, following the Netherlands in 2022 and Russia in 2019.
Cross Car: Heat 3 Proceeds on Sunday Morning, Sets Stage for Semi-Finals
October 27, 2024
After a weather delay on Saturday, Cross Car completed the last of three heats on Sunday morning that set the stage for the Semi-Finals and Finals later in the day.
Team Spain’s Ivan Pina Chinchilla ultimately topped the Cross Car Senior category, while David Meat from Team France came in second. Joonatan Ylilammi from Team Finland won the third group of Heat 3 to finish third overall.
In Cross Car Junior, Diego Martinez from Team Spain was first overall after winning Heats 2 and 3. Team France’s Sacha Daayot and Team Belgium’s Lucas Cartelle, who both finished in the top three of previous heats, followed Martinez in second and third, respectively.
In Cross Car Mini, the four drivers advancing to the category’s Semi-Final are Team Czechia’s Michal Hrcka, Team Spain’s Hugo Fuertes, Team Netherlands’ Merel Hoogstra and Team Canada’s Ava Cabral.
The Semi-Finals for the three categories begin at 10:50 local time. The Cross Car Mini Finals then take place at 11:35, while the Cross Car Senior and Junior Finals end Off-Road activities at the FIA Motorsport Games starting at noon.
GT Sprint: Germany gunning for second gold as Wiebelhaus paces Free Practice
October 27, 2024
Finn Wiebelhaus carried his GT form into the GT Sprint category by topping Free Practice for Germany.
The youngster secured victory yesterday alongside Hubert Haupt and is now gunning for a second gold medal in 24 hours. The German-flagged Mercedes-AMG posted a 1m31.383s to top the times.
Ayhancan Güven was second quickest for Türkiye. The Porsche factory driver was 0.338s shy of Wiebelhaus’ benchmark. Daniel Jauncadella was third for Spain at the wheel of his Mercedes-AMG, followed by Darren Leung (United Kingdom Ferrari) and Jazeman Jaafar (Malaysia Lamborghini).
The GT Sprint field will be back on track at 10:25 CEST for Qualifying 1, followed by Qualifying 2 at 11:00. The medal-deciding race gets underway at 15:00 and runs for 40m minutes.
RESULT: Free Practice
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