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.

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.

Result

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

Drifting: Sweden and Poland on top in Qualifying, Semi-Final line-up set

October 26, 2024

The Semi-Final line-up for Drifting was set today at Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Two nations did not participate in Qualifying, allowing two competitors automatic progression to the next phase.

Joakim Andersson (Sweden) earned the best score with 93 points, narrowly beating Jakus Przygonski (Poland) and Koji Tada (Japan) to top spot. As such the Swedish and Polish entries will not need to contest the Semi-Finals. Simen Olsen (Norway), Bas Mul (Netherlands) and 2022 gold medallist Kristaps Bluss (Latvia) also finished among the top six.

The other 14 contests will see nations go head to head at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, whittling the contenders down until a Top 4 emerges. They will compete to decide the finalists, as well as the bronze medal play-off.

Today’s absentees were Mathias Locatelli (France) and Jean-Eric Ayrton Sieber (Germany), whose participation is over. Tandem Practice runs at 10:30, while the Top 32 and Final get underway at 14:15.

Result: Qualifying | Semi-Final Line-Up

Cross Car: Drivers Fight for Semi-Final Spots, Await Sunday’s Finals

October 26, 2024

The three Cross Car categories were most impacted by Friday evening’s rain in Valencia, as a wet off-road course made for a quiet morning and a stacked afternoon featuring two heats of action. Because of the weather delay, Heat 3 races originally scheduled for Saturday will run on Sunday morning beginning at 8 a.m.

In the Cross Car Senior category, Sebastian Enholm of Team Sweden and David Meat of Team France won Heats 1 and 2, respectively. In Cross Car Junior, it was Bryan Luca Neumeyer of Team Germany and Diego Martinez of Team Spain setting themselves up well on Sunday following heat victories on Sunday.

The Semi-Finals for all three categories are scheduled to begin Sunday morning at 11 a.m., followed by the Cross Car Mini Finals at 14:30. The finals for Cross Car Senior and Junior are scheduled for 15:00. Live timing will be available here.

Results are located here for Cross Car Senior, Cross Car Junior and Cross Car Mini.

Karting Slalom: Germany and Hungary on form ahead of Semi-Finals

October 26, 2024

The battle for Karting Slalom gold moved to the decisive phase on Saturday as the Eight-Final and Quarter-Final were staged at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

EIGHT-FINAL

Hungary made light work of Sweden, while defending gold medallist Germany was equally comfortable in its victory over Chinese Taipei. Indeed, the German crew of Louis Stange and Maja Braun was fastest of all in this round.

In comparison, Poland’s win over Lithuania was a narrow one. Belgium, Israel, Kosovo, Denmark and the Netherlands also secured safe passage.

QUARTER-FINAL

In the Quarter-Final phase, Germany continued its march towards another gold by defeating Kosovo. Poland beat Belgium, the Netherlands saw off Israel and Hungary dispatched Denmark. Indeed, the Hungarians look to be Germany’s biggest rivals in defending its 2022 win.

This sets up tomorrow’s series of match-ups. The Semi-Final runs at 09:15, followed by the bronze-deciding Small Final (10:10) and the Final at 10:45.

Results: Eight-Final | Quarter-Final

Karting Endurance: First karting gold of Games goes to Team Belgium

October 26, 2024

The four-hour Karting Endurance was the first medal deciding race on the Asphalt of Aspar Circuit and it proved to be a memorable one as Team Belgium defended its FIA Motorsport Games crown.

Having won the event in Marseille back in 2022 the Belgians (Justine Strauven / Maxime Drion / Maverick Dessy) seemingly had it all to do from sixth on the grid, but the reigning champions were soon embroiled in a three-way scrap for the lead in the opening hour.

Team Belgium, Team Spain and Team Slovakia all had spells at the head of the field as the first scheduled pit stops loomed, before the latter squad soon took hold of proceedings during the mid-stages of the race.

Team United Kingdom (Jack O’Neill / Andrew O’Neill / Rhianna Purcocks) were the biggest movers in the opening two hours as they blasted their way from 16^th on the grid onto to the tail of the lead Slovakian car, but it was all change again in the final hour.

With the vast majority of the final pitstops having been completed the Slovakians had been shuffled down to fifth, as Belgium moved back into P1.

Nearest challengers – Team Spain (Belen Garcia Espinar / German Sanchez Flor / Jose M. Perez Aicart) – had to make a splash and dash pit stop in the closing ten minutes, confirming Belgium’s success while setting up an incredible battle for second.

As Team Belgium took the chequered flag 16 seconds clear of the chasing pack there was a barn-storming run to the line as Team Spain pipped Team United Kingdom for second by an incredible 0.064s after four-hours of action-packed racing.

Esports F4: Brazil completes dream day with second gold

October 26, 2024

It may have waited three years for its first, but Team Brazil only had to wait a few minutes for its second FIA Motorsport Games gold medal as Luis Felipe de Sà Tavares completed a dream day for the nation.

With the country celebrating its first-ever gold in the preceding Esports GT race, all eyes were on pole-sitter de Sà Tavares to see if he could keep his nerve in the F4 outing. He didn’t disappoint, emerging just inches ahead from a breathless race that featured multiple leaders and a seven-car lead fight that went down to the final turn.

Brazil, Switzerland’s Jimmy Antunes and Republic of South Korea’s Gyumin Kim all took turns out front during the early stages as the lead pack broke away. Switzerland made a bold move to pass Brazil for the lead at the Bus Stop on the penultimate lap but spun its chances away on the throttle, leaving a lead pack of seven cars that were covered by a single second starting the final tour.

De Sà Tavares managed to hang on, despite one final challenge from Team Czechia’s Martin Kadlečik, who himself only just clung on to second as four cars crossed the line together, with South Korea snatching the bronze by fractions from both Netherlands and Singapore.

Aaaaaand breathe!! 🥇 🥈 🥉 #EsportsF4 has delivered with a wild and wonderful Final – won by #TeamBrazil who take a double #esports gold today!

–#FIAMotorsportGames pic.twitter.com/SMlX6vC4Zc

— FIA Motorsport Games (@fiamgames) October 26, 2024

Historic Rally: Team Italy triumph on Tarmac

October 26, 2024

Italy’s Andrea Zivian and co-driver Nicola Arena earned their third FIA Motorsport Games gold medal by powering to victory in the Historic Rally Tarmac competition on Saturday.

The pair charged to the top step of the podium in the Historic Rally Gravel class on Friday to add to their win in the 2022 edition of the “Race of Nations”.

At the wheel of his Audi quattro, “Zippo” kept up the hot streak by marching to five wins across the six asphalt stages that comprised the Historic Rally Tarmac schedule on Saturday.

Also setting the pace in the day’s ending Super Special Stage at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, the Team Italy crew bolted to another gold medal with a final winning margin of 4:10.9s over silver winners Antonio Sainz / Carlos Cancel (Porsche 911 SC) for Games host nation Spain.

Sweden’s Tarmac line-up of Christer Hedlund / Ida Lidebjer-Granberg claimed the bronze aboard their Ford Escort RS1800.

In the Historic Rally Overall ranking, which adds contestants’ Gravel and Tarmac stage times together, the United Kingdom’s mixed-surface entry of Ben Mellors / Alex Lee ended the day in top spot.

The Toyota Celica runners will now battle against the Spanish and Italian sides in Sunday’s crucial Medals Stage. The leading three teams will race head-to-head around a rallycross-style course at Circuit Ricardo Tormo to determine the final pecking order.

The contest for the gold, silver and bronze medals starts at 17:05 local time.