The inaugural FIA Motorsport Games event is scheduled to take place in Rome and at the nearby Vallelunga Circuit from 31 October to 3 November 2019. The competition has been organised by the FIA in conjunction with promoter SRO Motorsports Group.
Despite the event being announced in June, more in-depth details of the FIA Motorsport Games were revealed last week at a press conference held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
It has been confirmed that the FIA Motorsport Games will be held across six different motor sport disciplines. These will be made up of well-renowned categories such as GT, Touring Cars and Formula 4 featuring alongside the up and coming competitions of drifting, digital motorsport and karting slalom. The inclusion of these niche disciplines will help to increase their already rapidly increasing following.
Continuing the national focus of the GT Nations Cup, each competition invites one entry per country, to be selected by the respective National Sporting Authorities worldwide. Liveries in each discipline will feature the national flag of the respective country.
The Key Dates
The Opening Ceremony is set to be held in Rome on 31 October, at which the competing nations will be unveiled against the backdrop of many iconic landmarks.
Each competition will award gold, silver and bronze medals to its top three, all of which will contribute to an overall medal table to determine the winning nation at the end of the event. A Closing Ceremony will be held at the Vallelunga Circuit on 3 November, concluding this historic event.
The Disciplines
The GT Cup will headline the FIA Motorsport Games and will feed off the success of the 2018 GT Nations Cup. The event enjoyed a successful first running at the Bahrain International Circuit last year. At the finish, the Turkish crew of Ayhancan Güven and Salih Yoluç took the win, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 prepared by Ram Racing.
Each driver pairing must be categorised by the FIA as either all Bronze or Bronze/Silver. The competition will format of two one-hour-long races, and a final one-hour-long race that will determine the medal-winning pairings.
The Touring Car Cup will see one race of 25 minutes + 1 lap and a second race of 30 minutes + 1 lap. It has been decided that the races will be help in TCR machines due to this being an accessible platform for drivers from all over the globe.
KC Motorgroup Ltd took the opportunity of the press conference at Spa to reveal its brand new Formula 4 car for the single-seater category (pictured below). It will be the first hybrid-powered single-seater outside of Formula 1. All cars will be operated by Hitech GP with identical set-ups and limited tyres, and with data being shared between all drivers and engineers.
The Drifting Cup will feature on Friday and Saturday evenings and will be held under floodlights, utilising parts of the Vallelunga Circuit.
The Digital Cup will be played on Gran Turismo Sport. To add pressure, the competition will be held under the supervision of a real-life FIA Race Director and Stewards.
The Karting Slalom Cup is open to all young women and young men between 14 and 16 years old, with no licence or experience required. The competition will start on the Friday and the Final Knockout Tournament will be on the Sunday.
Summary
Currently, no drivers have been confirmed for this event. However, countries are already starting to create plans for their entrants. Australia have already stated that they are beginning selection of their candidates.
In conclusion, the creation of this new competition means that motorsport can finally join the rest of the sport industry with its own major competition. An event that pitches countries against each other but more importantly the focus is on the drivers and not machinery. Whether the competition is a success remains to be uncovered but it seems clear that the FIA and SRO Group are planning this event in the best possible way.
Which country will be the first ever FIA Motorsport Games winner?
