Igor Rodrigues has taken Brazil’s first-ever Esports medal at the FIA Motorsport Games with Gold in the GT competition (using Assetto Corsa Competizione) in Valencia.
From the spectacular setting of the City of Arts and Sciences complex in Valencia, Rodrigues took the lead from Vojtech Fiala into turn one, and never looked back, holding on by 1.4s ahead of Niklas Houben in second for Germany
The competition
Nearly 60 drivers contested Esports GT medals in Valencia this week, firstly sorted into three groups of Quarter Finals.
Reigning champions Great Britain had an opening day shock, with Kieran Prendergast, taking over from 2022 gold medallist James Baldwin, finishing 13th in quarter-final 1. He would finish second in the last-chance race, but the signs weren’t great.
The next day, he’d finish 11th, missing out on the final by 2.6s, while fellow ACC specialist Grantas Karekas was knocked out in the second semi-final.
They both got further than Ole Steinbraten though, the Norwegian Team Redline driver who finished 14th in quarter-final 2, then only eighth in the Last Chance, becoming the first big favourite to get eliminated.
The final
In the end, the field was whittled down to 20 drivers ready to contest the final, and it was Vojtech Fiala who took pole position.
However, starting on the outside was always going to be a disadvantage at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, and Igor Rodrigues was there to immediately take advantage.
Behind them, the USA, Malaysia and Singapore would all tangle, virtually writing off their medal chances at the first corner of an hour long race.
Philippa Boquida was also written off early, despite coming in as a favourite, as she’d qualified down in 18th. A respectable recovery drive saw her knocking on the door of a top 10 within 20 minutes though.
Sota Muto had similar struggles, getting stuck in the first half an hour behind France in a battle for seventh, despite his obvious speed.
Rodrigues and Fiala were quickly joined by Nicklas Houben of Germany, and the three broke away in the first 10 minutes, helped by a battle between Belgium, Chile and Spain for fourth.
This situation held all the way until the pitstop window, in the traditional middle 10 minutes of the hour.
Houben blinked first, not so early as to find himself stuck in traffic, but a single lap earlier than Fiala, in hopes of an undercut giving him second. That, it certainly did, and there was nothing the Czech driver could do about it as he exited the pits.
Rodrigues still came out in the lead though, 2.1s ahead of a fired-up Houben with still 25 minutes to go.
It probably felt like longer for Rodrigues, who didn’t let the pressure show. He leaked some time to the German, but not even as much as to provoke a battle between the two.
Instead, he held on by 1.4s to win Brazil the gold medal, ahead of Houben with silver, and Fiala comfortably taking bronze in third.
This format certainly provided the drama, right from the beginning too, with big names being shelled out on Friday. However, the Ricardo Tormo circuit didn’t provide heaps of battles for medal places, instead, the entertainment was in the midfield.
Perhaps that was because those drivers didn’t really have anything to race for. A circuit change for the next FIA Motorsport Games though and you could have a humdinger of a sim racing event, but in 2024, I think at times it left us wanting that tiny bit more.
FIA Motorsport Games Esports GT 2024 results
- Brazil
- Germany
- Czech Republic
- Japan
- Chile
- Spain
- Belgium
- Australia
- Malaysia
- Slovakia
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