VALENCIA, SPAIN (Sunday, October 27, 2024) – Spain is celebrating victory on home soil at the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games after taking a record haul of six gold medals in Valencia.
The Spanish squad finished well clear at the top of the table, ending four days of competition ahead of Germany and 2022 winner Italy. A total of 13 nations struck gold in 2024, while 26 left the Games with at least one medal. They included 12 first-time medallists, with seven nations winning a maiden gold.
Staged at multiple venues around Valencia, the third FIA Motorsport Games drew a total attendance of 49,000. Spectators were treated to an incredible variety of motorsport, ranging from GT and single-seater racing to grassroots categories, esports and karting.
The closing ceremony took place this evening at the City of Arts & Sciences in Valencia, where the successful athletes were celebrated, while Spain was recognised as the event’s top performer.
Cross Car Mini
Spain continued its run of gold medals with an historic victory in the first ever Cross Car Mini competition. Hugo Fuertes reigned victorious at Aspar Circuit, to give the home nation a medal in all three Cross Car categories.
Cross Car Jr
Team Belgium scooped its second gold medal of the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games with Lucas Cartelle emerging out front from a drama-filled Junior Final. The Junior Final, for drivers aged 13-15, brought shock and entertainment for fans onsite at Aspar Circuit and even required two attempts to complete.
Cross Car Sr
David Méat captured Team France’s first medal of the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games by claiming his second Cross Car Senior gold in as many editions. Having won the top honours in Marseille in 2022, the three-time European Cross Car Champion refused to give up his grip on the top step and repeated the feat during a dramatic Final at Aspar Circuit on Sunday morning.
Formula 4
Team Spain secured its fifth gold medal of the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games thanks to a dominant performance from Juan Cota Alonso. The home hero proved unshakeable, leading from lights-to-flag to finish ahead of Peru’s Andres Cardenas and Team United Kingdom driver Reza Seewooruthun.
Touring Car
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.
Karting Slalom
Germany successfully defended its Karting Slalom gold medal thanks to a metronomic showing from Maja Braun and Louis Stange. They beat Hungary in a close-run Final, while the Netherlands beat Poland to bronze.
Auto Slalom
Michaela Dorčíková and David Nemcek earned Slovakia its first-ever FIA Motorsport Games gold medal with a redemptive Auto Slalom victory. They saw off defending winner Germany in the Semi-Finals before edging Estonia in the decisive match-up.
GT Sprint
Ayhancan Güven stormed from the rear of the pack to secure Türkiye’s first ever gold medal in today’s GT Sprint race. He made a late pass on impressive youngster Finn Wiebelhaus (Germany), while Daniel Juncadella took bronze for Spain.
GT Single Make – Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli
Although James Owen did not cross the finish line first in Sunday’s Single-Make GT – Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli race, he became a gold medal winner for Team United Kingdom. A penalty for the first-place finisher, Ivan Velasco Sanchez, dropped the Spaniard to third as Team Switzerland’s Christophe Hurni jumped Sanchez as well for silver.
Karting Mini
Team Portugal claimed a brilliant gold medal in the Karting Mini Final as Xavier Lázaro prevailed at the end of a pulsating 11-lap battle. The youngster won from the impressive Estonian Bennet Korjus, while Morales Mendez completed the podium for Spain.
Karting Sprint Jr
Jorge Edgar produced a fighting display to score Team United Kingdom its first gold medal of the FIA Motorsport Games in the Karting Sprint Jr contest. Edgar started from seventh but worked his way to the fore, eventually coming out on top of a tight fight with Team Türkiye and Team Spain.
Karting Sprint Sr
Lithuania won its first gold of the event with victory in Karting Sprint Sr, whilst second place for Team Andorra was the nation’s first silverware in the history of the FIA Motorsport Games. Favourites Spain were forced to recover from a mid-race incident and eventually completed the podium positions.
Drifting
Poland claimed Drifting gold by defeating Norway in the deciding contest at Circuit Ricardo Tormo. A losing semi-finalist in 2022, Kuba Przygonski could not be stopped this time. He overcame Simen Olsen (Norway) in the battle for the top prize, while Sweden’s Joakim Andersson secured bronze.
Rally2
The competitive action at the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games finished in thrilling fashion as Türkiye edged Team Spain by just 0.3s to triumph in the Rally2 Medals Stage finale. Ali Türkkan threaded his Ford Fiesta through the penultimate chicane to rejoin the main circuit just ahead of host nation Spain and narrowly held on to claim gold.
Rally4
Team Germany’s Tom Kässer and co-driver Stephan Schneeweiß hung on to narrowly claim gold by 1s ahead of Spain in the Medals Stage decider for Rally4. While the host nation’s Sergi Perez / Axel Coronado had already won the Gravel and Tarmac classes, the Germans edged ahead in a closely fought three-lap race at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Historic Rally
Team Italy powered to victory in the Medals Stage at Circuit Ricardo Tormo to add the Historic Rally Overall gold to wins in the Gravel and Tarmac classes. Andrea Zivian / Nicolas Arena triumphed over United Kingdom and Spain in the three-lap showdown to successfully defend a gold scored at the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games.
