The first ever FIA Motorsport Games have been officially opened, as Australia's entrants prepare for a busy weekend of racing.

Flying the flag for Australia at the Vallelunga Circuit in Rome, Italy are Luis Leeds (Formula 4), Brenton and Stephen Grove (GT) and Cody Nikola Latkovski (Digital Cup).

Thursday was a preparation day for all entrants, with new cars and new support teams meaning plenty of homework before the track action gets underway on Friday evening (Australian time).



The opening ceremony at Rome's historic Circo Massimo followed, with all competitors paraded on stage and welcomed to what will become an iconic piece of the motor sport calendar.

All action from the FIA Motorsport Games will be live streamed on www.cams.com.au this weekend.

Click here to see the full schedule.

In the Formula 4 category, Leeds said he was eager to impress on the global stage, racing competitively for the first time since his title win in this year's CAMS Australian Formula 4 Championship.

"I'm feeling good, ready to go," Leeds said.

"Today we're just getting everything ready, we'll go through some notes on the track and look at the data. We're representing Australia and we're ready to rock and roll."



With a brand new hybrid Formula 4 car being debuted at the Motorsport Games, drivers were allocated a chief engineer via lottery to create a level playing field for the 20 nations competing.

"We want to win this weekend and we've got some awesome engineers and mechanics, so I think we're in for a good one" Leeds added.

For the Groves, the concept is slightly more familiar having represented Australia in the inaugural FIA GT Nations Cup in 2018, which acted as a precursor to the first ever Motorsport Games.

"It's awesome for it to be a bigger event this year and it's a privilege to be invited back by CAMS to represent Australia," Brenton said.

"It's something we put on the calendar quite early this year and now we're here and we're definitely going to try and make the most of it."



Father Stephen was equally as enthusiastic about driving a car with the Australian colours.

"Coming over here and representing Australia is a really big thing for me," Stephen said.

"The expectation is to try and get into the top 10, but there's a lot of work to do - we both haven't driven this car before and we haven't driven this circuit."



With Esports on the event line up in the form of the Digital Cup, Australia's representative, Latkovski, will go in with medal hopes, having competed in the FIA Gran Turismo Sport Championships since 2018 and is the most awarded sim driver in the Asia-Oceania region.

“There’s nothing quite like it when you get the opportunity to represent your country in something as big as this,” he said.

“I will do my best to make Australia proud."

All categories will be in action on track on Friday, with the GTs and Formula 4 both enjoying two practice sessions, while the Digital Cup will hold a three hour practice session for all competitors.

Stay tuned for more from the FIA Motorsport Games, including interviews with all Australian competitors throughout the course of the weekend.