AUSTRALIA CLAIM TWO MEDALS AT INAUGURAL FIA MOTORSPORT GAMES

Australia claim two medals at FIA Motorsport Games – Photo: Supplied

Australia has claimed two medals to finish equal second on the overall medal tally at the inaugural FIA Motorsport Games.

The brand new international competition saw 49 nations battle it out for six gold medals, with Australia claiming gold in the Digital Cup (Esports) and a bronze in the GT Cup.

Grove Racing capped off a brilliant weekend for the Australian team at the Vallelunga Circuit in Italy, claiming third place in the GT Cup after starting eighth.

There was plenty of hope in the Australian camp, thanks to Cody Nikola Latkovski’s gold medal in the Digital Cup on Saturday evening inspiring the rest of the team to perform on the final day.

Australia’s Formula 4 representative Luis Leeds almost made it three podiums from three, but he finished just outside the medal placings in fourth, having started eighth in his medal race.

Impressively, Australia, Russia and Italy were the only countries to earn more than one medal in total at the debut of the Games, with Russia claiming overall event honours.

GT Cup

Grove Racing’s Brenton and Stephen Grove finished third and claimed a bronze medal in the GT Cup’s final feature race.

Stephen started the feature medal race in eighth, and with rain lingering at the Italian circuit, the conditions were tough for all drivers.

Stephen made a terrific start to the race in an impressive opening stint. He pitted halfway through the race for the compulsory driver change having climbed to fifth. From there, Brenton began his stint to continue the charge.

With the rain getting heavier in the latter half of the race, Brenton managed to hold his own in trying conditions, but the conditions were not favourable for close racing and eventually the safety car was called on lap 19 after the rain became too heavy.

Racing resumed two laps later and Brenton made his move – climbing from seventh to fourth before yet another safety car intervention on lap 22.

The pair were promoted to third after the Belgium entry in front of them was handed a drive-through penalty for an earlier incident, leaving the Groves to spray the champagne on the podium.

Japan were the eventual GT Cup race winners, taking home gold ahead of Poland and Australia.

“To come over here and represent your country, do it with your son and more importantly do it in a Porsche is just fantastic,” said Stephen Grove.

“We’ve had a hard weekend, we’ve come here and had crazy conditions and we’ve been able to pull it together for third, it’s just outstanding.

“To represent Australia means an awesome amount to us both. We’re so proud that we were able to represent our country and so proud that we can bring something back to our country.”

Digital Cup

Beating more than 30 competitors from around the world, Australia’s Cody Nikola Latkovski won gold for Australia, beating some highly fancied competitors on his way to the impressive feat.

The West Australian sailed through the qualifying process, starting from second on the grid and thanks to a bold four-stop strategy, the 19-year-old managed to win gold for his country.

Players competed on the popular Gran Turismo platform, with competitors racing on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in the grand final event. The 12 grand finalists steered identical Red Bull X2019 prototypes in the 19 lap race.

Latkovski, the FIA-certified Gran Turismo World Championships regular had a race to remember and came away with a win despite a spin earlier in proceedings.

“Wow, I’m just lost for words at the moment – I’m happy I could get gold for Australia,” said Latkovski.

“This is just amazing, I couldn’t be happier. I can’t believe it, to get this great achievement for Australia, it’s just outstanding, I couldn’t have hoped to go better.”

Formula 4 Cup

A charging Luis Leeds narrowly missed out on claiming another medal in the Formula 4 Cup Feature Race.

Starting eighth on the grid, Leeds made his way through the field in a rain impacted race to end the event in fourth.

Leeds went close to claiming the final podium position, and what could have been a bronze medal, but in a strong and competitive field, the Victorian would have to settle for fourth despite his best intentions.

“That race was interesting – starting off in the wet conditions and ending up really, really dry so we had to manage tyres and look for wet patches,” said Leeds.

“I pulled off a few courageous moves down into a few hairpins, but you’ve just got to send it sometimes and it paid off.

“It’s been an awesome week working with some amazing people. I wish I could have won for my country.”

For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the current issue of Auto Action. Also make sure you follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or our weekly email newsletter for all the latest updates between issues.