Team Italy have been crowned winners of the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games thanks to a total of three gold medals in Rally4, Historic Rally and KCMG Formula 4.
This equalled host nation Team France’s haul of golds, while Mirko Bortolotti added a silver in the concluding GT Sprint race to tip the table in Italy’s favour. Belgium finished third with two golds, one silver and two bronze, placing them ahead of Germany and the Netherlands, who tied for fourth.
In addition to being confirmed as the overall winner, Team Italy also scooped the AllStar Trophy for achieving the best medal score across the event’s 10 senior disciplines.
The NewStar Trophy went to Team Germany for scoring the best results in Karting Endurance, Karting Sprint Junior, Karting Slalom, Auto Slalom, Cross Car Junior and Fanatec Esports.
There were also regional trophies awarded to South Africa (Africa), Australia (Asia), Peru (Americas), Italy (Europe) and Kuwait (MENA).
Valencia Confirmed As 2024 Games Venue
SRO Motorsports Group has announced plans for the third edition of the FIA Motorsport Games to be staged in Spain, with Valencia accepting host duties.
Subject to FIA World Motor Sport Council approval, the event is set to run in late October 2024 on a non-clashing weekend with Formula 1.
Valencia is set to host the traditional opening ceremony, while racing activities will be centred around Circuit Ricardo Tormo, downtown Valencia, and other nearby venues.
Auto Slalom
Team Germany stamped their authority on Auto Slalom by beating Slovakia and Georgia to the gold medal.
Driving the electric Opel Corsa e-Rally, German duo Marcel Hellberg and Claire Schonborn flew through the last 16 and then disposed of Team Czech Republic in the quarter-finals and Team Georgia in the semi-finals, taking on Team Slovakia for the gold.
Slovakia got the better of Team Croatia in their own semi-final after beating Team Israel, but it was a much tougher contest as Michaela Dorcikova, sharing with David Nemcek, helped her nation into the final by 2.4s with a mighty run when it mattered. Michaela is the Team Manager of FIA WEC and Asian Le Mans Series competitors ARC Bratislava.
In the final, Schonborn’s decisive opening run gave Germany the advantage, swiftly backed up by Hellberg as the pair claimed a dominant gold medal by 13.7s. Slovakia took silver, while bronze went to Georgia after penalties cost Croatia in their play-off.
GT Sprint
Team Australia secured the final gold medal of the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games by winning Sunday afternoon’s GT Sprint race, while a runner-up finish for Team Italy was enough to ensure that they ended the event’s second edition on top of the medal table.
Lining up in second spot, Matt Campbell got a lightning launch in his Porsche, while the pole-sitting Team Belgium Audi was swallowed by the pack. Within a few laps the Team Italy Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti was second followed by the recovering Belgian car driven by Dries Vanthoor. By this point, however, Campbell had pulled five seconds clear of the pack.
Bortolotti chipped away at the deficit and ultimately got within two seconds of Campbell, but he could not prevent the Aussie from bagging the final gold of the 2022 event. Silver for Team Italy was enough to break a tie with France at the top of the medal table, while Vanthoor took bronze for Team Belgium. Team Brazil’s Bruno Baptista won the award for the best silver-graded driver, finishing sixth at the chequered flag.
