Race details Date 1–3 November Official name FIA Motorsport Games Location Vallelunga Circuit, Campagnano di Roma, Italy Course Permanent circuit Distance Qualifying Race 160 minutesQualifying Race 260 minutesMain Race60 minutes Qualifying Race 1 Pole Driver Ukyo Sasahara Team Japan Time 1:32.898 Fastest lap Driver Ukyo Sasahara Team Japan Time 1:33.384 Podium First Alfred Renauer Team Germany Second Christina Nielsen Team Denmark Third Artur Janosz Team Poland Qualifying Race 2 Pole Driver Hiroshi Hamaguchi Team Japan Time 1:38.443 Fastest lap Driver Andrzej Lewandowski Team Poland Time 1:49.426 Podium First Hiroshi Hamaguchi Team Japan Second Miguel Ramos Team Portugal Third Hanss Po Heng Lin Team Chinese Taipei Main Race Pole Driver Andrzej Lewandowski Team Poland Fastest lap Driver Zaid Ashkanani Team Kuwait Time 1:39.086 Medalists Hiroshi Hamaguchi Ukyo Sasahara Team Japan Artur Janosz Andrzej Lewandowski Team Poland Brenton Grove Stephen Grove Team Australia
The 2019 FIA Motorsport Games GT Cup was the first edition of the pro–am FIA Motorsport Games GT Cup and a continuation of the FIA GT Nations Cup. The event was a Grand Touring (GT) sports car race contested with GT3-spec cars and was held at the Vallelunga Circuit, Italy between 1 and 3 November 2019. Only Silver and Bronze drivers were allowed to compete. The event was part of the 2019 FIA Motorsport Games and was promoted by the SRO Motorsports Group (SRO) in partnership with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; global motor racing's governing body).
The pair of drivers who represented Japan, Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Ukyo Sasahara, won the main race and the gold medal sharing a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo from third position. Poland's team of Artur Janosz and Andrzej Lewandowski began from pole position after scoring the fewest number of points in the two preceding qualification races. Lewandowski led until he was overtaken by Hamaguchi on lap four and maintained it to the end. Janosz and Lewandowski claimed the silver medal and the father and son duo of Brenton Grove and Stephen Grove took the bronze medal for Australia.
Background and entry list
The 2019 FIA Motorsport Games GT Cup was one of six events to be held as part of the 2019 FIA Motorsport Games, an international motor racing competition modelled on the Olympic Games. It was promoted and organised by the SRO Motorsports Group (SRO) in partnership with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; global motor racing's governing body) and took place at the Vallelunga Circuit near Rome, Italy from 1 to 3 November 2019. The SRO had proposed holding the event as the second running of the FIA GT Nations Cup at Vallelunga to the FIA in December 2018.
The format used in the 2018 FIA GT Nations Cup was carried over to the FIA Motorsport Games. Drivers had to hold an International ‘C’ licence as a minimum and had to have competed in an FIA-regulated championship race based on GT3 regulations in the previous two seasons or have significant experience in Grand Touring (GT) cars to enter the race pending the discretion of the FIA Motor Sport Games Committee. Each nation could be represented by a two-driver Pro–am crew made up of either an FIA silver and bronze-ranked racers or both drivers categorised as bronze, but no uncategorised, Platinum or Gold-rated competitors could enter. Teams entering the car could come from any country but their drivers had to come from their entry's country. All National Sporting Authorites (ASN) had responsibility for the identification and selection of their competitors for the event, based on a set of criteria including results in domestic series, international racing experience and each team's operating resources.
The final entry list composed of 22 car teams of two drivers each was published on 9 October 2019. Teams fielded GT3 cars from Aston Martin, Audi, Ferrari, Honda, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche and entrants came from multiple countries in four continents: Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. AF Corse were the most represented team with four cars. The top three finishers of the main race received medals following the race's conclusion and these results produced an medal table that would see the best performing ASN as determined by the number of gold medals won and then by silver and bronze medals being presented with the FIA Motorsport Games trophy at a closing ceremony in Rome.
Practice and qualifying
Two 80-minute practice sessions were held in the morning and afternoon of 1 November. Overnight rain made the circuit wet, making track conditions tricky for the first practice session. France led the session with a lap time of 1:32.693 set late on by driver Jim Pla in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. Pla was two-tenths of a second quicker than the second-placed Patric Niederhauser driving a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo for Switzerland. Alfred Renauer's German Porsche 911 GT3 R, Russia's Denis Bulatov in a Ferrari 488 GT3 and Weiron Tan's Malaysia Porsche were in third through fifth. Just 21 out of the 22 entries set a lap time as Portugal's Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo was in the pit lane due to an issue with the car's front. Tan stopped at the pit lane entry midway through the session, stopping practice. In the second practice session, which took place on a dry track, Niederhauser lapped fastest for Switzerland with a time of 1:32.304. Pla dropped from first to second while Kantadhee Kusiri was third for Thailand. Renault was fourth for Germany and Russia's Bulatov took fifth. The session was twice stopped, with the second halt ending practice early.
Two 20-minute qualifying sessions were held on the morning on 2 November. All Bronze-rated drivers set lap times in the first session to set the starting order for the first qualifying race. Each squad's Silver-rated driver recorded lap times in the second session to determine the starting grid for the second qualifying race. The first qualifying session was held on a wet circuit that dried as the session progressed and saw Hiroshi Hamaguchi of Japan claim pole position with a 1:38.443 lap after leading the time sheets early on. Salih Yoluç qualified Turkey second, 1.397 seconds behind. Rinat Salikhov took third for Russia, ahead of Portugal's Miguel Ramos, Germany's Steffen Görig and the United States's Robert Ferriol. The final grid positions were as follows: Denmark, Italy, Poland, Australia, Thailand, Spain, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Belarus, Belgium and Kuwait. France's Jean-Luc Beaubelique was given a reprimand for an unsafe return onto the circuit. The second session was led by Japan's Ukyo Sasahara with a lap of 1:32.898 he set on a drying circuit, the same lap time as France's Pla but Sasahara was awarded pole position because he set the time first, completing a sweep of qualifying sessions for Japan. Switzerland's Niederhauser and Australia's Brenton Grove were third and fourth. Bulatov of Russia and Tan for Malaysia completed the top six. The final grid positions were taken by Portugal, Germany, Chinese Taipei, Poland, the United States, Thailand, Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Italy, Hong Kong, Spain and China.
First qualifying session classification +Final classification of the first qualifying session Licence Driver Team Entrant Car 1519B Team JapanOrange1 FFF Racing TeamLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1:38.443—121B Team TurkeyTF SportAston Martin Vantage AMR GT31:39.840 +1.39723888B Team RussiaFerrari 488 GT31:40.179 +1.7363499B Team PortugalAttempto RacingAudi R8 LMS GT3 Evo (2019)1:41.767 +3.32445991B Team GermanyHerberth MotorsportPorsche 911 GT3 R1:43.326 +4.8835618B Team USASpirit of RaceFerrari 488 GT31:43.698 +5.2556711B Team DenmarkReno RacingHonda NSX GT31:44.099 +5.6567821B Team ItalyAF CorseFerrari 488 GT31:44.248 +5.8058966B Team PolandVincenzo Sospiri RacingLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1:44.258 +5.8159104B Team AustraliaHerberth MotorsportPorsche 911 GT3 R1:44.333 +5.8901011911B Team ThailandDinamic MotorsportPorsche 911 GT3 R1:44.570 +6.127111219B Team SpainRacing Team SpainLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1:44.781 +6.338121316B Team MalaysiaEarl Bamber MotorsportPorsche 911 GT3 R1:45.317 +6.874131470B Team ChinaPhantom Pro Racing TeamMercedes-AMG GT31:45.492 +7.049141522B Team Hong KongReno RacingHonda NSX GT31:45.533 +7.090151668B Team Chinese TaipeiGama RacingLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1:45.832 +7.389161758B Team SwitzerlandRaton RacingLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1:46.059 +7.616171893B Team UKTempesta RacingFerrari 488 GT31:46.237 +7.794181987B Team FranceAKKA-ASPMercedes-AMG GT31:46.348 +7.905192051B Team BelarusAT Racing TeamFerrari 488 GT31:46.355 +7.912202188B Team BelgiumAttempto RacingAudi R8 LMS GT3 Evo (2019)1:47.558 +9.1152122007B Team KuwaitOptimum MotorsportAston Martin Vantage AMR GT31:54.380 +15.93722Sources:+Categorisation Icon Class S Silver B Bronze
Second qualifying session classification +Final classification of the second qualifying session Licence Driver Team Entrant Car 1519S Team JapanOrange1 FFF Racing TeamLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1:32.898—1287S Team FranceAKKA-ASPMercedes-AMG GT31:32.898—2358S Team SwitzerlandRaton RacingLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1:33.227 +0.329344S Team AustraliaHerberth MotorsportPorsche 911 GT3 R1:33.359 +0.46145888S Team RussiaFerrari 488 GT31:33.482 +0.5845616S Team MalaysiaEarl Bamber MotorsportPorsche 911 GT3 R1:33.485 +0.5876799S Team PortugalAttempto RacingAudi R8 LMS GT3 Evo (2019)1:33.712 +0.81478991S Team GermanyHerberth MotorsportPorsche 911 GT3 R1:33.785 +0.8878968S Team Chinese TaipeiGama RacingLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1:33.963 +1.06591066S Team PolandVincenzo Sospiri RacingLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1:33.970 +1.072101118B Team USASpirit of RaceFerrari 488 GT31:34.167 +1.2691112911S Team ThailandDinamic MotorsportPorsche 911 GT3 R1:34.235 +1.337121351S Team BelarusAT Racing TeamFerrari 488 GT31:34.240 +1.342131488S Team BelgiumAttempto RacingAudi R8 LMS GT3 Evo (2019)1:34.243 +1.345141511S Team DenmarkReno RacingHonda NSX GT31:34.310 +1.41215161S Team TurkeyTF SportAston Martin Vantage AMR GT31:34.394 +1.496161793S Team UKTempesta RacingFerrari 488 GT31:34.582 +1.6841718007S Team KuwaitOptimum MotorsportAston Martin Vantage AMR GT31:34.676 +1.778181921S Team ItalyAF CorseFerrari 488 GT31:34.830 +1.932192022S Team Hong KongReno RacingHonda NSX GT31:35.034 +2.136202119S Team SpainRacing Team SpainLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1:35.131 +2.233212270S Team ChinaPhantom Pro Racing TeamMercedes-AMG GT31:35.817 +2.91922Sources:
Qualifying races There were two one-hour qualifying races to set the starting order for the main race through a points-scoring system. Each entry, including all retirements, tallied points based on its finishing position. The winner of each qualifying race earned one point and the second-place finisher received two points. The points total from both qualifying races were combined to set the starting order for the main race, with pole position being awarded to the entry with the fewest points scored. Should two cars have earned the same number of points, then the car that set the fastest race lap from either qualifying race would be ahead of the other. Cars that did not start one or two qualifying races were required to start at the rear of the grid.
First qualification race