Digital Cup

Australia has won its first ever gold medal at the FIA Motorsport Games thanks to 19-year-old Cody Nikola Latkovski.

In what was a brilliant and race-winning strategy, Latkovski chose to take an extra pit stop than his closest competitors to use the speed of the fresh tyres to his advantage.

Starting from second on the grid after a consistently strong qualifying period, Latkovski overcame the German pole-sitter to take an early lead.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing though, with Latkovski spinning out of the lead midway through the race to fall behind Costa Rica, but Costa Rica had dramas of their own, dramatically spinning out on the penultimate lap to allow Latkovski to take the chequered flag and create history as Australia’s first ever medal winner at the FIA Motorsport Games.

What he said:
“Wow, I’m just lost for words at the moment – happy I could get gold for Australia,” Lakovski said.

“This is just amazing, I couldn’t be happier. I can’t believe it, to get this great achievement for Australia, it’s just outstanding, I couldn’t have hoped to go better.”

GT Cup

Australia go into the final day of action in a solid position, after finishing ninth in the opening race.

The weather played its part in the day, with the race red flagged and a number of nations failing to finish.

There were plenty of intense battles on track and there weren’t many drivers who escaped unharmed, with both Brenton and Stephen Grove having their share of incidents throughout the race.

The day started well, with Stephen qualifying 10th fastest, while young gun Brenton Grove managed an impressive fourth.

Brenton managed to force his way as high as seventh in his stint, but was unceremoniously punted off the track and dropped back to 12th. He managed to recover in the closing stages to pass another two cars and cross the chequered flag in 10th. A penalty for another nation was applied though post-race, with Team Australia now promoted to ninth.

Sunday comprises two more races, with the combined finishes of the first and second races deciding the order for the feature race, where ultimately the medals will be awarded.

What they said:
Brenton Grove:
“It was a bit of a yo-yo, we were up, we were down, we were sideways, we were off – so it was a tricky race,” Brenton said.

“Our pace was really good, I think we’ve got the car under us and we can do a good job – it’s just about trying to stay out of trouble (on Sunday).”

Stephen Grove:
“It was a weird race, but it was quite good to finish tenth… that’s not a bad spot,” Stephen said.

“We start tomorrow P4 and if we can get a good result tomorrow and hopefully be P5 or P6 for the (feature) race, then I think it’s game on.”

Formula 4 Cup

It was a mixed day for Australian Luis Leeds.

The 19-year-old showed plenty of pace in qualifying only for a number of separate red flags preventing him from recording the fastest lap, despite a number of fastest sectors throughout the session.

Ultimately, Leeds would have to settle for fifth, which would in turn end up as eighth for Saturday’s qualifying race, with race officials deeming the 2019 Australian Formula 4 Champion was travelling too quickly under red flag conditions.

In the qualifying race, Leeds got off to a strong start, but he narrowly missed pulling off an ambitious move on lap one which would have catapulted him up the order – eventually he ended the qualifying race where he started – and will start from eighth on the grid for Sunday’s medal race.

Leeds will race for glory in a 30 minute feature race which begins at 11.40am local time (9.40pm AEDT).

What he said:
“It was pretty insane, I went for it at turn seven on the first lap, but just sent it a bit too hot,” Leeds said.

“That’s what we’re here for – to race against the best, the racing was close but it was fair.

“We had a really good qualifying in the wet, but unfortunately a red flag on the purple lap where I was nine tenths quicker (than anyone else), so that’s hard to accept but at the end of the day I’m just having heaps of fun here.”