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At Sunday's dramatic Karting Sprint Junior Final at Circuit Paul Ricard, Team Peru became the first team in history to earn a gold medal at the FIA Motorsport Games. This came after the race's initial victors, Team France, received a penalty.
The Senior competition's medal race, which only saw half of the field finish due to numerous opening-lap collisions, was won by Team Belgium.
Junior Sprint Karting
The gold medal win in the junior karting sprint by Andreas Cardenas is significant on many ways. The young Peruvian prodigy not only becomes the first driver to win a gold medal in the FIA Motorsport Games Karting Sprint Junior, but his success also signals an outstanding performance in the country's competition debut.
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.
Despite momentarily losing a spot to Jules Caranta of France as the top five racers battled side by side, Cardenas gained it back and finished second at the finish line.
Even though Team France was the first to cross the finish line, a five-second post-race penalty for Caranta moved him down the standings and gave Team Peru the gold medal.
Due to a Front Fiaring that was improperly placed and resulted in a five-second post-race penalty, Team Estonia's Mark Dubnitski, who finished third at the line from fifth on the grid, also forfeited his bronze medal.
Gabriel Koenigkan of Team Brazil, who had led for the first half of the 26-lap race but had fallen to fifth in the extremely competitive pack, was consequently moved up to the silver medal-winning position from fourth. FIA Drivers' Commission President and former Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa was present for this amazing outcome.
Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen of Team Denmark took up the bronze after making it all the way from eighth on the grid. Team Slovenia (Aleksandar Bogunovi) finished fifth, Team France's heartbreaking fourth place, and Thibaut Ramaekers of Belgium completed the top six.
Karting Sprint Senior
Karting Sprint Senior
The Senior competition proved even more dramatic with multiple opening lap incidents immediately knocking 11 nations out of the running. Two corners later, a full course yellow was issued when Team Sweden and Team Spain eliminated one another from medal contention.
Elie Goldstein of Belgium took the lead cleanly after the restart, while Ariel Elkin of Israel dropped Yevan David of Sri Lanka to third. For the next 32 laps of the race, the two nations engaged in a brilliant struggle in which they alternated positions.
Along with following in his grandfather's wheel tracks by winning an FIA title, Goldstein continued his perfect performance to canter to the chequered flag unopposed and win Team Belgium's first ever karting gold medal.
Elkin won a well-deserved bronze medal, while David eventually produced a move that won second place and the silver medal, giving their respective teams—Team Sri Lanka and Team Israel—their first medals of the Games.
Team Germany's Maxmillian Schleimer outperformed Team Hong Kong China's Yu KaPo and Lithuania's Adrijus Rimkevicius to take fourth place, leading the pack of competitors.
Carmen Kraav, representing Team Estonia in her first FIA Motorsport Games, put forth a fantastic effort to move up the field and finish seventh. Half of the race failed to finish, and Indonesia's Kaenan Reza Sini was the final kart to cross the finish line in 15th place.
You can watch a repeat of the action here.
This a summary of an article on the FIA Motorsport games website, to view the original please click here.
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