The top 30 racers have been locked in for the semi-finals of the Fanatec Esports discipline at the FIA Motorsport Games after three dramatic quarter-finals today.
The top ten racers in each quarter-final race earned an automatic semi-final spot with remaining racers having to fight their way in via two last chance races on Friday afternoon.
Team Brazil's Igor Rodrigues continued his strong pace from practice and qualifying to dominate the opening quarter-final from pole to lead home Team Spain's Alberto Garcia Gomex and Team Greece's Harris Mitropoulos.
In the second quarter-final, pole man Chris Harteveld from Team Netherlands led from pole, but was passed by Team Czech Republic's Martin Kadlečík, who went on to win by 5.2090 seconds. 2019 FIA Motorsport Games gold medal-winning nation Team Australia is again strong this year, with Philippa Boquida taking third place.
In the final 60-minute quarter-final battle, Team UK's James Baldwin - the former World's Fastest Gamer winner and multiple SRO Esports champion – completely dominated the event. After starting from pole, drama behind him in the first corner helped his cause, but he raced away to a 33.57-second victory.
Baldwin was the only racer in the third event to record a time in the 1 minute, 53-second bracket – his fastest lap was 1:53.7450.
Tomorrow it will be time to fight for gold, silver and bronze medals. All remaining racers will enjoy a final practice session in the morning before the two semi-finals at 13:15 and 14.45. The 110-minute final will go green at 17:35, with all racers again competing on the Assetto Corsa Competizione platform with Fanatec hardware.