Luis Felipe de Sa Tavares has given Brazil a double Esports gold in Valencia at the FIA Motorsport Games with a dramatic iRacing F4 win.
He held off a strong challenge from Martin Kadlecik at Spa in the final chicane to win, as an unprecedented four wide finish for silver and bronze took place behind.
The competition
Just as there was in GT, there were early shocks in the F4 competition too.
Strong favourite Moritz Löhner’s struggle for form continued, as he was knocked out on Friday alongside Malta national Esports F4 champion Keith Camilleri, and iRacing specialist Alxander Spetz.
Great Britain’s miserable Esports campaign would continue early on Saturday, as Matt Caruana would get involved in an incident in the semi-finals, while Jarl Teien and Quentin Vialatte would also see their weekends end before the final.
In the end, a strong 20-driver field took the start of the final, with Luis Felipe de Sa Tavares on pole for Brazil.
The final
It was a relatively calm start, with everyone realising the need to avoid incidents early on in what was sure to be a draft-heavy race. Ar Muhammed Aleef Mohamed Rafik of Singapore took the lead into Les Combes on lap one, ahead of Tavares and Apex Racing Team’s Jimmy Antunes in third.
However, this was a race where the leader of the race wouldn’t matter until the very end.
However, it didn’t appear like that to the drivers on lap one, as Tavares made a risky three-wide pass for the lead at the final chicane, only for Antunes to overtake him seconds later.
The three-wide moments would continue, as Gyumin Kim would fit through an impossible gap on the Kemmel straight next lap to take his turn at the front.
Behind, a large pile-up involving most of the bottom half left just eight at the front to contest the three medal places, taking some of the volatility out of the front group.
A relief to most probably, although it didn’t stop the lead changes. Antunes on lap four, Tavares again on lap five. But this rhythm would be broken at the final chicane with two laps to go, as Antunes got on the power too early and spun, a frustrating mistake for someone of his quality to make.
The penultimate lap was the first in which the lead didn’t change, and it was crucial for the race.
Gyumin Kim of Korea’s failure to take the lead gave Czech Republic’s Martin Kadlecik, who’d been quiet to this point, a chance to take second. He failed to do so, but the gap he created allowed Tavares some breathing space on the final run up the Kemmel straight.
The slipstream dragged Kadlecik, now in second, back into the fray, but only close enough for a speculative lunge into the final chicane on the final lap.
The Czech driver threw everything he had behind the attempt, but Tavares smartly ran his car in deep too, cutting off Kadlecik’s path to gold.
In the end, the Brazilian held on to win, ahead of Kadelcik and Kim who were involved in an extraordinary four-wide photo finish for silver.
A great finish to the week’s racing at the FIA Motorsport Games, with Gyumin Kim taking perhaps the most surprising medal of the six awarded in Esports competition this year.
If the games can continue to capture otherwise unseen talent like Kim and thrust them into the limelight against the world’s best like this, I think the competition may just have a bright future.
FIA Motorsport Games Esports F4 2024 results
- Brazil
- Czech Republic
- Republic of Korea
- Netherlands
- Singapore
- Andorra
- Italy
- Spain
- Denmark
- Switzerland
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