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The 2022 FIA Motorsport Games have been won by Team Italy, who received a total of three gold medals in Rally4, Historic Rally, and KCMG Formula 4, at this evening's closing ceremony at Circuit Paul Ricard.
This matched the number of gold medals won by the host nation Team France, and Mirko Bortolotti added a silver in the final GT Sprint race to shift the balance in Italy's favor. With two gold medals, one silver, and two bronze, Belgium took third place, ahead of Germany and the Netherlands, who tied for fourth.
Team Italy not only won the competition's overall title but also the AllStar Trophy for collecting the most medals across the 10 senior disciplines. In the categories of karting endurance, karting sprint junior, karting slalom, auto slalom, cross car junior, and fanatec esports, Team Germany won the NewStar Trophy. Additionally, regional trophies were given to South Africa (Africa), Kuwait (MENA), Australia (Asia), Peru (Americas), and Italy (Europe).
42,000 fans attended the eclectic event's successful second edition, which featured four jam-packed days of activity at Circuit Paul Ricard. They observed a broad lineup that included high-powered GT cars, impressive drift equipment, and the technical challenge of slalom, while off-road competitions were taking place nearby. Here is a complete list of Sunday's medal winners.
Auto Slalom
By defeating Slovakia and Georgia to win the gold medal, Team Germany firmly established their dominance in auto slalom.
German drivers Marcel Hellberg and Claire Schonborn, operating the electric Opel Corsa e-Rally, breezed through the last 16 before defeating Teams Czech Republic and Georgia in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, before facing Team Slovakia for the championship.
Slovakia defeated Team Croatia in their own semi-final after defeating Team Israel, but it was a much tougher contest as Michaela Dorcik, who shared the victory with David Nemcek, propelled her country into the final by 2.4 seconds with a strong run when it needed.
Germany won the match thanks to Schonborn's dominating first run, which was quickly followed by Hellberg as they won a convincing gold medal.
Germany gained the upper hand in the final because to Schonborn's decisive starting run, which was immediately followed by Hellberg as the duo won the gold medal decisively by 13.7s. Georgia won bronze when penalties cost Croatia in their play-off, while Slovakia won silver.
GT Sprint
The GT Sprint race on Sunday afternoon was won by Team Australia, giving them the last gold medal of the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games. Team Italy finished second, giving them the top spot in the medal standings for the second iteration of the competition.
Matt Campbell, who started in second place, launched his Porsche with lightning speed, while the Team Belgium Audi on the pole was sucked up by the field. After a few laps, the recovering Belgian vehicle driven by Dries Vanthoor was second, followed by the Team Italy Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti. But at this time, Campbell had pulled away from the group by five seconds.
Bortolotti made progress in closing the gap and eventually passed Campbell by two seconds, but he was unable to stop the Australian from winning the last gold medal of the 2022 competition. Vanthoor won bronze for Team Belgium, and Team Italy's silver was enough to break the tie with France at the top of the medal standings. Bruno Baptista of Team Brazil earned the prize for the best silver-graded driver after coming in sixth at the finish line.
KCMG Formula 4
Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Team Italy once again cemented his status as a rising star with his overwhelming victory in the KCMG Formula 4 final. The 16-year-success old's brings a gold medal from the FIA Motorsport Games to his list of accomplishments for 2022, which already includes victories in the Italian and German Formula 4 championships.
The success today follows Andrea Rosso's triumph in the Formula 4 gold medal race at the 2019 FIA Motorsport Games, giving Team Italy a perfect record. Thanks to Formula 4 chassis maker KCMG, Antonelli not only wins a gold medal but also obtains an extra 10,000 euros for his 2023 race budget.
Manuel Espirito Santo of Team Portugal finished second and won the silver medal behind the Italian, with Bruno Del Pino Ventos of Team Spain claiming third and the bronze.
Karting Slalom
Sebastian Romberg and Annika Spielberger of Team Germany put on an outstanding performance to help the team win the gold in the Karting Slalom. They defeated a tenacious Hungary in the quarterfinals and easily defeated Estonia in the semifinals to advance to the gold medal game. Belgium, meanwhile, defeated Poland and the Netherlands to earn a spot alongside Germany in the championship game.
Prior to it, the Estonians and Poles competed for the bronze medal. Although Jurgen Laansoo of Estonia was the fastest of all, Karol Krol and Emilia Rotko of Poland won Poland's second bronze medal of the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games with a more reliable performance.
There was only the final to complete, and Romberg was Team Germany's fastest competitor with a time of 1m21.324s. Despite having three penalties for hitting cones, Dario Pemov finished second for Belgium in terms of raw pace. Germany won with a margin of 16.7s, and Spielberger was as reliable as ever in leading his team to victory.
Karting Sprint Junior & Senior
Young karter Andreas Cardenas won the first-ever gold medal for Karting Sprint Junior to give Team Peru a historic maiden FIA Motorsport Games medal at their first competition. During two thrilling finals at the Circuit Paul Ricard kart track, Team Belgium also made history in the new Senior category.
Cardenas was viewed as a promising medal candidate after finishing sixth, second, and fifth in the three qualifying heats. Cardenas made a great start from third on the grid to pursue Team Brazil's Gabriel Koenigkan, who had the pole position and was leading the race. Jules Caranta of France momentarily gained the lead, but Cardenas quickly regained it and finished second overall.
Although Team France came in first and Team Estonia came in third, both were penalized five seconds after the race and fell in the rankings. Gabriel Koenigkan of Team Brazil, who had led for the first 16 laps of the 26-lap race before slipping to fifth, was thereby elevated to the silver medal position. Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen of Team Denmark took up the bronze after making it all the way from eighth on the grid.
Elie Goldstein of Team Belgium followed in his grandfather's footsteps by winning the Senior category flawlessly from pole to flag and claiming the FIA title. Yevan David and Ariel Elkin put on a fantastic battle for second place after 13 countries, including medal contenders Sweden and Spain, were eliminated from the race after the first lap. David eventually won the silver medal, and Elkin took home a well-deserved bronze, giving their respective countries of Team Sri Lanka and Team Israel their first-ever medals of the Games.
Touring Cars
Thanks to the seasoned Tom Coronel, Team Netherlands won the Touring Cars division. In a thrilling main race, Coronel held off Team Spain's Isidro Callejas Gomez (Cupra) and Jack Young's Team Ireland Honda Civic.
Coronel profited from Gilles Magnus, another Audi driver, giving up the lead on lap two after the Team Belgium driver had dominated the morning qualification race. Young, who had placed second on the road, dropped to bronze after receiving a five-second time penalty for a collision with Team France at the Mistral chicane.
SRO Motorsports Group and the FIA would like to thank everyone who helped make the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games a success, including the 72 competing nations and all event volunteers.
The original article can be found on the FIA games website here.
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