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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.

Auto Slalom: Semi-Finalists decided at Circuit Ricardo Tormo

October 26, 2024
The final four contenders for Auto Slalom gold were decided by today’s Eight-Finals and Quarter-Finals at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

EIGHT-FINAL

Having led the way in yesterday’s Qualifying, Slovakia comfortably dispatched Albania thanks to the combined efforts of Michaela Dorčíková / David Nemcek. Germany overcame Ukraine in a surprisingly close contest, while Israel beat Australia and Estonia beat Czechia.

Malaysia sent Poland home with an impressive combined time of 5m36.469s, which ranked as the best result of the Eight-Final. South Korea overcame Croatia – the only instance of a lower seed taking the win – while Hungary eliminated the United Kingdom.

QUARTER-FINAL

There were no significant upsets in the Quarter-Finals. Germany beat Lithuania by a shade under six seconds, while Slovakia maintained its status as gold medal favourite by comfortably overcoming Hungary.

Israel was the star performer, its combined time of 5m43.078s proving to be the best of the round. The only surprise was that Malaysia could not maintain its earlier form, exiting at the hands of Estonia.

As such it will be Slovakia, Germany, Israel and Estonia that battle for gold. The Semi-Finals will run tomorrow at 11:30, followed by the Small-Final to decide the bronze medal at 12:25. The Final is scheduled for 13:05.
Results: Eight-Final | Quarter-Final

 

Karting Mini: All to play for after wins for Portugal, Estonia and USA

October 26, 2024

An enthralling opening battle for victory in Heat 1 Group 1 for the Karting Mini category came down to a side-by-side blast as Team Portugal eventually got the better of Team USA as the chequered flag waved.


USA’s Joshua Bergman led for almost the entire contest but Portuguese talent Xavier Lázaro pressured his rival throughout, before lining up a quite brilliant move at the start of the final lap.


Bergman responded, getting the drag down the final straight, but Lázaro held on by an astonishing 0.035s. Team Morocco’s Nahyi El Gahoudi completed the podium.


Despite the slight frustration of falling to second in the opener, young gun Bergman would not be denied in the second heat as he held on to victory from El Gahoudi, whilst Lázaro had to settle for fifth.


It was Team Netherlands’ Senn Lindemann who completed the podium, handing the young Dutchman an opportunity to fight for a medal tomorrow.


The opening heat for the second group looked to be heading the way of Team Spain as Nuvola Morales Mendez led the opening exchanges, before he was eventually shuffled down to third.


It was Team Estonia’s Bennet Korjus powering through to take the win ahead of Team Australia’s Jay Kostecki.


Korjus is fast becoming one of the standout favourites, along with Kostecki, as the duo took another one-two finish in the second bout, with Team Argentina’s Valentino Manassero in third.


The 40-strong Karting Mini entry will complete their heats on Sunday morning with the Final due to take place at 13:05.


Click here for full results.


Rally4: Spain takes home the Tarmac gold medal

October 26, 2024

Team Spain’s Sergi Perez and co-driver Axel Coronado bagged their second gold medal of the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games by winning the Rally4 Tarmac class on Saturday.


The pair had already guided their Peugeot 208 to victory on Friday in the dedicated Gravel division in Rally4, which caters for front-wheel-drive machinery.


As the field moved onto six asphalt stages to the southwest of Valencia for Saturday’s Rally4 Tarmac contest, the representatives for the Games host nation Spain collected a further five wins.


Perez / Coronado were pipped by just 0.5s in the evening Super Special Stage at Circuit Ricardo Tormo by Türkiye’s Kerem Kazaz / Onur Vatansever. However, their hard work earlier in the day paid dividends as they secured the gold medal with a 1:19.4s advantage.


The Netherlands picked up silver thanks to Opel Corsa duo Nard Ippen / Jorie Christiaens, while René Noller / Tim Rauber (Corsa) took home bronze for Team Germany.


With Perez / Coronado also contesting Rally4 Overall – which combines the times from the Gravel and Tarmac stages – they progress into the all-important Medals Stage on Sunday.


Competing on a three-lane rallycross-style course at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, they will race Brazil’s Luis Eduardo Stedile / Carlos Enrique Morales and Germany’s mixed-surface crew of Tom Kässer / Stephan Schneeweiß in the showdown for gold, silver, and bronze.


The decider starts on Sunday at 17:05 local time ahead of the Closing Ceremony at 20:30.


Rally2: Team Spain adds Tarmac gold to Rally medal tally

October 26, 2024

Alejandro Cachón and co-driver Borja Rozada’s supreme streak of stage wins continued throughout Saturday to earn the Team Spain duo a gold medal in the Rally2 Tarmac contest.


The Toyota GR Yaris crew entered the day having won every stage on Friday to claim victory in the Rally2 Gravel class for four-wheel-drive cars with 1600cc turbocharged engines.


Cachón / Rozada picked up where they left off as the competition switched to smoother asphalt roads on Saturday for Rally2 Tarmac. They ran fastest on all six regular stages before again setting the pace in the evening Super Special Stage at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.


The Spanish duo finished with a winning margin of 44.2s over Türkiye’s Ali Türkkan / Oytun Albayrak, their Ford Fiesta having slid into a ditch on the day’s first leg to cost 17s.


Behind the silver medallists, Kenneth Madsen / Mette Felthaus (Citroën C3) completed the podium to earn a deserved Tarmac bronze for Team Denmark.


Spain and Türkiye hold first and second in Rally2 Overall, for which the Gravel and Tarmac stages are combined.


With the Danes opting to focus on Saturday’s stages, the two nations will be joined by Mexico’s Alejandro Mauro Sanchez / Adrian Perez in the deciding Medals Stage on Sunday.


In the final competitive action of the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games, the top three crews in Rally2 Overall will race around a rallycross-style course to determine who earns gold, silver and bronze.


The showdown starts on Sunday at 17:05 local time.


GT: Germany takes maiden Circuit gold with victory over United Kingdom

October 26, 2024

Germany has won GT gold at the FIA Motorsport Games after a dramatic final contest in which it overcame a spirited fight from the United Kingdom.


The UK Ferrari started from pole with James Cottingham at the wheel, but Hubert Haupt was on the attack from the word go. The German-flagged Mercedes-AMG was alongside on the run towards Turn 2 and muscled past into the corner.


Having dominated his segment of Qualifying, it might have been expected that Haupt would disappear into the distance. But Cottingham proved a more than worthy adversary, the two trading purple sectors and running between five tenths and one second apart.


The United Kingdom lost a little time in the pits, giving Finn Wiebelhaus a few seconds advantage. Chris Froggatt made fast work of this and was soon pushing hard for the lead.


Froggatt then earned a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits. He finally found a way past Wiebelhaus with a forceful move on the 45-minute mark, but now needed to gap the German by five seconds.


He gave it everything, but in pushing to make up time Froggatt recieved a second track limits penalty. Wiebelhaus was able to stay close behind, ultimately taking victory once the penalties had been administered.


Switzerland claimed the bronze medal in dramatic fashion as Yannick Mettler passed Jorge Cabezas Catalán (Spain) on the final lap. The Swiss Mercedes-AMG made major progress during the second half of the race after Dexter Müller ran the opening stint.


Result: GT Medal Race




Esports GT: Golden boy Rodrigues brings it home for Brazil

October 26, 2024

Team Brazil scored its first-ever FIA Motorsport Games gold medal after an inspired performance by Igor De Oliveira Rodrigues, who capped a dominant event with a lights-to-flag victory in the Esports GT Final.


Both the Brazilian driver and Team Czechia’s Vojtech Fiala went into the Final having enjoyed a 100% record across Qualifying, the Quarter-Final and Semi-Finals, with both drivers having led every lap of their respective contests from pole. Something had to give in the Final, and an inspired drive by De Oliveira Rodrigues secured the honours.


Brazil got away well to head Czechia into turn one and then crafted a slim 2.6s lead by the time the pit window opened. Team Germany’s Niklas Houben had managed to stick with the top two and was the first to pit, which proved an inspired decision when he managed to vault past Fiala when Czechia made its stop a lap later.


From then, Brazil controlled the gap back to Germany, as Czechia secured the bronze medal position. Brazil also becomes the third different nation to celebrate an Esports GT gold medal, alongside Australia and the United Kingdom, while Germany and Czechia’s results mean there has yet to be a repeat Esports GT medallist, with nine different nations occupying the podium across the three editions.


Japan took fourth ahead of Chile and Spain.


Esports GT Final Result




Karting Sprint Sr: Team Spain does the double

October 26, 2024

Team Spain doubled up in Karting Sprint Sr as Ruben Moya Lopez triumphed in both heats, much to the delight of a passionate home crowd.


Team Czechia’s Václav Procházka and Team Malta’s Jacob Micallef were second and third in the opener, although the latter was disqualified post-race, subsequently promoting Team Romania’s Alex Machado into the podium positions.


Procházka’s performance was particularly impressive as he made a couple of eye-catching moves on his way up to second, arguably confirming his tag as Moya Lopez’ biggest rival for the gold medal.


It was a repeat result on-track in the next heat too as the same three drivers pulled clear of the chasing pack, with Procházka again getting the better of Micallef with another slick pass.


Malta’s Micallef is also clearly another medal contender, as he bounced back well from the earlier disqualification.


The consistency of Lithuanian Markas Silkunas cannot be discounted either, as the young talent’s fourth and fifth place finishes so far leave him nicely poised in the fight for honours.


The final Karting Sprint Sr Heat will take place at 10:45 on Sunday with the medal deciding finale set to commence at 14:05.


Click here for the final results.


Karting Sprint Jr: Success for Spain and Switzerland

October 26, 2024

The first racing action kicked off at a sunny Aspar Circuit this morning with Team Spain enjoying home success in the opening Karting Sprint Jr Heat.


Bosco Arias kept his cool to lead from start to finish in a frenetic race as chaos ensued behind.


A multi-kart pile-up took out no fewer than nine competitors on the opening lap, bringing about a lengthy full course yellow period, whilst further incidents later in the contest meant that only 22 of the 36 starters finished.


The scrap for the other podium positions proved to be pivotal, eventually taken by Team Switzerland’s Chiara Bättig and Team Türkiye’s Iskender Zülfikari.


Zülfikari then took a brilliant victory in the second bout as he made up four places during the contest to win from Spaniard Arias and Team India’s Jagrat Detroja.


Team Netherlands’ Mats Van Rooijen and Swiss racer Bättig were next in the order, with many predicting that the eventual gold medal winner will likely come from one of these leading five contenders.


A final heat will take place 10:20 on Sunday before the all-important medal deciding final commences at 13:35.


Click here for results.


Touring Car: Team Argentina Builds Gap, Overcomes Penalty for Qualifying Win

October 26, 2024

Ignacio Montenegro and Team Argentina led the Touring Car Qualifying race on Saturday flag-to-flag, but not without drama.


As he led in his Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR, Montenegro was assessed a five-second penalty for jumping the race start. Additionally, the Safety Car was deployed halfway through the contest and nullified the lead that the Argentinian had built.


However by the checkered flag, Montenegro had narrowly regained a 5.3-second advantage over Team Spain’s Eric Gene Casanovas to capture the win and start Sunday’s final race from the pole position once again.


While Casanovas went on to finish second in his CUPRA Leon VZ TCR, Adam Kout from Team Czechia was elevated to third in the closing minutes after two cars battling for the position were assessed drive-through penalties for violating track limits. Kout’s finish marks the first time a Hyundai Elantra N TCR has broken into the top-three this weekend.


The comeback story of the day, however, goes to Team Brazil’s Raphael Reis.  Reis started second on the grid, but was hit on the first lap and suffered significant damage that dropped him to the back of the field. As other competitors were dealt mechanical issues or penalties, Reis made up enormous ground to bring his CUPRA home in fourth.


Touring Car wraps up its FIA Motorsport Games on Sunday with the main race at 9:45. Live timing for the 30 minute plus one-lap race is available here.


Single-Make GT: Qualifying 2 Sets Sunday’s Grid

October 26, 2024

Following two qualifying sessions at Circuit Ricardo Tormo on Saturday, the combined results have yielded that Team Spain’s Ivan Velasco Sanchez will lead the Single-Make GT – Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli pack to green in Sunday’s race.


Velasco Sanchez laid down a sensational lap – one minute, 33.052 seconds – in his Ferrari 296 Challenge to take the pole position away from Team Georgia rival Davit Kajaia with six minutes remaining.


Kajaia went on to finish second in Qualifying 2, but his disqualification from Qualifying 1 on Saturday morning means James Owen of Team United Kingdom will start outside the front row on Sunday. Angelo Carlo Fontana Oliviero will start third.


Now that the grid is set, the Single-Make GT field prepares for its race, which will be 30 minutes plus one lap in duration, on Sunday at 13:45. Live timing will be available here.


Click here for results.


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