The on-track action began on Friday in Italy, with Australia in action in three categories at the inaugural FIA Motorsport Games.
Wet weather overnight on Thursday, plus Friday morning drizzle meant conditions were damp early on, before the track dried and drivers were able to set competitive lap times at the iconic Vallelunga Autodrom.
The weekend's action will be live streamed on www.cams.com.au.
Formula 4
2019 CAMS Australian Formula 4 Champion Luis Leeds got his first taste of a hyrbid F4 car, with two practice sessions on Friday.
As drivers come to terms with the track and the cars, hometown advantage may prove to be a blessing with Italian Andrea Rosso topping both sessions on Friday.
For Leeds, seat time is proving to be a valuable commodity, after finishing FP1 in 12th, he improved in the second rain impacted session to finish fifth of the 20 competitors.
Formula 4 competitors go into battle with a qualifying session on Saturday morning, followed by a qualifying race which will set the order for Sunday's main race.
FP1 Result: 12th (1:37.846)
FP2 Result: 5th (1:36.525)
What he said:
"We want to win this weekend, I think we're in for a good one," Leeds said.
GTs
Grove Racing's Stephen and Brenton Grove had a strong start to their day, the duo finishing in the top 10 for both sessions.
With a seventh and an eighth placed finish in the two hour long sessions on Friday, the pair are confident of a strong placing come Sunday.
In the second session, the pair were on song setting the fastest first sector of any driver before the session was red flagged midway through the lap that could have potentially see them end the day on top.
Competitors in the GT Nations Cup have two qualifying sessions on Saturday, before they take part in race one later in the day. Sunday sees race two in the morning, followed by the feature race on Sunday afternoon that will determine the ultimate champion and the gold medal winner.
FP1 Result: 8th (1:39.271)
FP2 Result: 7th (1:33.002)
What they said:
Stephen Grove:
"We had a good session, I was able to do a lot of laps there (in FP2)," Stephen said.
"It will come down to pit stops now and making sure we get the timing right with those. We don't want to make time up on the track and lose it in the pit stops.
"This is a super privilege for us and we take it super seriously. We're going to work hard and put our best foot forward."
Brenton Grove:
"We're in a good place with both of our times and now it's just about making sure we don't make any mistakes and get the most out of our qualifying and see where we end up," Brenton said.
"To represent Australia is massive, it's a big privilege for us and we're making sure we put a lot of effort in."
Digital Cup
Drivers competing in the Esports component of the event got their first taste of racing on the simulators at the circuit, with a three hour practice session where Australia's Cody Nikola Latkovski started off the weekend fastest.
Setting a time of 1:29.569 - Latkovski will hope this early success is a taste of things to come.
Latkovski is hoping to do his country proud, building on his valuable experience in various digital competitions around the world leading up to this event.
For the Digital Cup competitors, the racing begins and wraps up on Saturday, with qualifying and a number of races to determine the winner in one day of intense and exciting action all part of the FIA Motorsport Games live stream.
What he said:
"This is the first time I've been able to do something like this for Australia - I'm over the moon to get this opportunity for Australia and I hope I do Australia proud," Latkovski said.
"I started Esports when I was three years old. In recent years the competition has stepped up a fair bit. I've been going to events similar to this and so far this year I've got it on the podium three times, I'm just missing a little bit and I'm hoping I can get the first win for our nation here in Vallelunga"