VALENCIA, SPAIN (Friday, October 25, 2024) – Spain is celebrating its first-ever gold medals at the FIA Motorsport Games after triumphing in both Rally2 Gravel and Rally4 Gravel, while Italy has won Historic Rally Gravel.
All three categories culminated today at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, with Jose Antonio Suarez / Alberto Iglesias taking the win for the host nation in Rally2 Gravel. Sergi Perez / Axel Coronado were the victorious Spanish crew in Rally4 Gravel, while Historic Rally Gravel went the way of Andrea Zivian / Nicola Arena, their second gold after securing Historic Rally honours in 2022.
Friday also brought significant activity at Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Five of the six Circuit categories were in action, while the venue also hosted the opening Auto Slalom sessions. At nearby Aspar Circuit, a combined seven categories from the Karting and Off Road disciplines were running through Free Practice and Qualifying.
But perhaps the busiest venue of all was the City of Arts & Sciences, where the Esports competitors staged no fewer than 10 races during the course of the day, culminating in grids being decided for tomorrow's Semi-Finals.
While Friday was busy, Saturday will take the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games to the next level. There is extensive action across a range of categories, including medal-deciding races for GT, Karting Endurance, Esports GT and Esports F4. Live coverage can be watched free of charge via the official FIA Motorsport Games website, YouTube channel and social media accounts.
GT
GT was the first category on-track this morning, with the first of its two Free Practice sessions getting underway at 08:30 before Qualifying ran at 16:15. Team Germany will start from pole in Saturday's Qualifying Race, which sets the grid for the Main Race at 16:30.
Single Make GT
Single Make GT ran its opening Free Practice session, which saw Georgia emerge as the quickest nation in FP1 while Germany led the way in FP2. In both cases, the top five cars were separated by less than one second. Saturday will feature Qualifying sessions at 09:10 and 14:10.
Drifting
The Drifting contenders completed four hours of Free Practice at Circuit Ricardo Tormo as they continue to build towards Sunday's gold medal showdown. They will undertake a further Free Practice run tomorrow afternoon, followed by Qualifying at 15:30.
Touring Car
Touring Car kicked off on Friday with a pair of 30-minute Free Practice sessions. Team Argentina posted the best time in FP1 before Italy hit the front in FP2. Qualifying and the Qualifying Race run on Saturday at 09:55 and 15:20 respectively.
Formula 4
Formula 4 also ran two Free Practice sessions on Friday. Team Greece paced the first ahead of Spain, while Israel hit the front in FP2 with the host nation once again slotting into second spot. The Formula 4 contenders will contest Qualifying at 08:30 on Saturday followed by a 20-minute Qualifying Race at 12:50.
Esports GT
Brazil, Czechia and Japan booked their places in Saturday’s Esports GT Semi-Finals by emerging on top from the three Quarter-Finals. Brazil and Czechia each controlled their races from pole, while Japan benefited from contact between Morocco and Australia to take the third.
Esports F4
Three epic Quarter-Finals brought glory for Singapore, Netherlands and Hungary in Esports F4. The latter two races both featured dramatic finishes, with Netherlands taking advantage of a clash to win and Hungary’s standout double pass on the last turn.
Rally2
Spain earned the first Rally2 gold medal of the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games by winning the Gravel class, and the host country also holds the Overall category lead. Spain’s specialist pairing of Jose Suárez / Alberto Inglesias Pin (Škoda Fabia) built enough of an advantage during the day to secure the victory over Türkiye.
Rally4
Sergi Perez and co-driver Axel Coronado built on their Friday morning supremacy to claim the Rally4 Gravel gold medal for Spain. Fielding a Peugeot 208, the pair established a healthy advantage courtesy of winning two out of the opening three stages.
Rally Historic
Andrea Zivian and Nicola Arena returned to the top of the Historic Rally podium for Italy by snaring the Gravel class gold, while the Great Britain sits first in the Overall category. Having won when Historic Rally made its FIA Motorsport Games debut in 2022, “Zippo” and Arena added their second gold on Friday.
Auto Slalom
Slovakia led the way in Friday's Auto Slalom Qualifying at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, beating defending gold medallist Germany to P1. The top 16 nations will progress to Saturday’s Eight-Final, with the competition now shifting to a head-to-head knockout format. Slovakia will compete against today's 16th fastest team, Albania.
Karting Mini
Such has been the vast entry for the Karting Mini category – which makes its FIA Motorsport Games debut in 2024 – the 40-strong entry was split into two groups for Practice and Qualifying Practice sessions. Team USA driver Joshua Bergman secured pole position for each of his three heats.
Karting Sprint Jnr
Team Switzerland’s Chiara Bättig proved to be the class of the field in the Karting Sprint Jnr category for drivers aged 11-14 as she edged out the Netherlands and Türkiye in the faster second Qualifying Practice. Team India led the first group ahead of Spain.
Karting Sprint Snr
The host nation was the quickest from the two Karting Sprint Snr Qualifying Practice sessions, whilst the other group was topped by Team Malta. These set the grids for tomorrow’s heats in the category for drivers aged over 14.
Karting Endurance
The 25-strong Karting Endurance entry enjoyed four Free Practice sessions on Friday. Hungary topped the opening session, before the United Arab Emirates set the fastest time of the day in the next segment, Belgium enjoyed their moment at the summit in FP3 and Hungary led FP4. All of the competitive action takes place on Saturday, with Qualifying at 10:15 and the four-hour endurance race from 14:30.
Cross Car
The Cross Car categories had a very busy Friday at Aspar Circuit. The Senior, Junior and Mini contenders combined for five hours of group runs, with Spain on top in all three categories. Saturday will be another action-packed day as Cross Car builds towards medals being decided on Sunday.