FIA Motorsport Games: facts and figures

29.10.22

The second running of the FIA Motorsport Games, hosted by Marseille and staged at Circuit Paul Ricard and the nearby autocross track in Veynes, is testament of diversity and inclusion, with numerous fascinating storylines behind some of the nearly half a thousand athletes representing 72 countries taking part in the event.

29 NEW NATIONS
With 49 nations participating in the maiden edition of the FIA Motorsport Games held back in 2019, 29 additional nations are taking part in the second running of the event.

ATHLETES OF ALL AGES
71-year-old Estonian Historic Rally co-driver Arvo Maslenikov is the oldest competitor of the event. 60 years his junior, Portugal’s 11-year-old kart racer Rodrigo Seabra is the youngest athlete fighting for medals this weekend. 

IMPRESSIVE FEMALE PARTICIPATION
High percentage of female participations makes the FIA Motorsport Games stand out among other international motor sport events.

Three competitions, Karting Slalom, Auto Slalom, and Karting Endurance feature a mandatory female driver in the line-up, while there are also other women competing in some of the remaining 13 disciplines, including Formula 4, Karting Sprint, Rally, Historic Rally and Esports. Team Portugal four-piece Karting Endurance crew is an all-female line-up.

This brings a total number of female competitors to over 70, which makes for more than 15% of nearly half a thousand athletes competing this year.

THE LOCAL ACE
Originally from the region of Marseille, French Rally2 driver Mathieu Arzeno is the most local of all competitors. Arzeno has won the French Rally Cup in 2017 on the surrounding roads of Le Castellet and Marseille. With five participations in the Rally Sainte Baume, the French driver knows the area better than anyone else.

FAMILY BUSINESS
There are several entries where competitors are connected by more than the will to win. There are two father and son duos in GT racing, second-time FIA Motorsport Games participants, Australia’s Brenton and Stephen Grove, as well as Brazil's Adalberto & Bruno Baptista.

In Historic Rally, husband and wife, Siegfried and Renate Mayr represent Germany. Also in the category, Spain is represented by Antonio Sainz, the brother of two-time WRC title winner Carlos and uncle of the current Ferrari Formula 1 driver, Carlos Jr. 

SECOND-GENERATION RACERS
Several up-and-coming drivers with familiar-sounding names can be seen on the entry lists of this year’s edition of the event. Two sons of former Formula 1 podium finisher and FIA WEC LMP1 regular Alex Wurz, Oscar and Charlie take part in karting and Formula 4 respectively.

Wurz’s former WEC team-mate, Stephane Sarrazain, is also having a son racing in Formula 4 this weekend, with Pablo Sarrazin representing France. Malaysia’s Alister Yoong, son of Minardi F1 racer, completes the trio of sons of former grand prix racers on the F4 grid.

24-STRONG ASN ENTRY
Team Spain stands out as the only nation to have representation in each of the 16 categories on the bill of this year’s edition. A total of 24 drivers and co-drivers sport the colours of the Iberian nation.

ONE-PIECE ENTRIES
14 different National Sporting Authorities are represented in one category only. These are: Andorra, Bangladesh, Belize, Guatemala, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Morocco, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, USA and Vietnam.

THE STRONGEST ENTRY
With 55 participants, Fanatec Esports Cup enjoys the strongest entry among the 16 disciplines, followed by Karting Junior/Senior Sprint and Drifting with 31 nations competing in each discipline.

THIRD TIME OUT FOR TEAM TÜRKIYE
GT racing specialist Ayhancan Güven represents the colours of Türkiye for the third time. The 24-year-old won the 2018 FIA GT Nations Cup, which is considered the predecessor of the FIA Motorsport Games, before taking part in the 2019 edition at Vallelunga and returning this year.