International motorsport will descend upon Spain twice this fall. Last weekend, the FIA Motorsport Games arrived at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, where the host country dominated the medal count with six of each for a total of eighteen. A month from now, Spain’s Circuito de Jerez will host the inaugural FIM Intercontinental Games.
Spain was the only country with double-digit medals in total and over twice as many as the second most of seven by Germany and the United Kingdom. Their six golds were also twice as much as Germany and Italy. The Spaniards also topped the total medal table at the 2022 Games, but failed to score a gold.
Juan Cota Alonso headlined the Formula 4 race after leading the entire race and clearing Peru’s Andrés Cárdenas by two seconds. Hugo Fuertes added a gold in Cross Car at the nearby Aspar Circuit, while four more golds came on the rally side.
“Every lap was key to achieving victory, I stayed calm and focused,” said Cota. “This medal is for my parents and my family for everything they have sacrificed for me. There is nothing greater than representing Spain today with a gold.”
Eric Gené, the son of World Touring Car Championship veteran Jordi Gené and nephew of F1 alumnus Marc Gené, narrowly missed out on adding a nineteenth medal for Spain. He was running third in Touring Car before falling to fourth due to a penalty and late contact.
Gené was not the only second-generation driver to take part. Kevin Magnussen’s younger brother and Jan Magnussen’s son Luca Magnussen finished seventh in Karting Sprint Senior. Oscar Wurz, son of Alexander Wurz, retired from the F4 race.
The United Kingdom enjoyed two golds from James Owen and Jorge Edgar in GT Single Make and Karting Sprint Junior, respectively.
With the four-wheeled Games out of the way, Spain now turns to Jerez to prepare for the FIM Intercontinental Games. Scheduled for 30 November/1 December, it will only consist of the Supersport and Supersport 300 events for 2024 but plans are to expand to other disciplines like motocross and enduro in the future.
Unlike the FIA Motorsport Games, the ICG’s “teams” are continents, each represented by an FIM Continental Union (CONU): Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania. Each CONU will have eight riders total with four per class, and at least one woman must be in each category.
“In one month this project will finally come to life,” said FIM President Jorge Viegas. “The FIM Intercontinental Games will be unique in bringing together all six FIM Continental Unions. It is a landmark competition that I have been keen to see happen since I first proposed it many years ago and I am delighted that we will finally see the first edition play out on the wonderful Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto very soon.”
