Australian karters Aiva Anagnostiadis and Peter Bouzinelos were caught up in incidents in their respective Senior and Junior finals at the FIA Motorsport Games in France on the weekend.
Anagnostiadis started 20th for the final but was out, along with a bunch of others, in an opening lap crash.
After qualifying 10th, then suffering two DNFs in the heats, Bouzinelos started the final 23rd and had moved up to 19th before a mid-race collision put him out of the event and earned a DQ.
The next FIA Motorsport Games are scheduled to be held in Spain during late October 2024.
- full results are HERE
Team Italy was crowned winners of the 2022 Games, achieving three gold medals (in Rally4, Historic Rally and Formula 4).
Aussie Wrap (for karters)
- Aiva Anagnostiadis (Senior Sprint/OK, KR/IAME/MG) – Q: 27 (of 29). Heats: 18, 17, 18. Ranking: 20. Final: 24th (DNF)
- Peter Bouzinelos (Junior Sprint/OK-JOK, KR/IAME/MG) – Q: 10 (of 30). Heats: 27 (DNF), 27 (DNF), 10. Ranking: 23. Final: DQ
Sunday’s Stream (has multiple karting segments):
Karting Slalom
Team Germany won gold in Karting Slalom thanks to a superb display from its crew of Annika Spielberger and Sebastian Romberg. They beat a determined Hungary in the quarter-finals before easily dispatching Estonia in the semis to reach the gold medal match-up. Belgium, meanwhile, beat the Netherlands and then Poland to secure their place alongside Germany in the decider.
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Before that the Poles went up against the Estonians to dispute the bronze medal. Though Estonia’s Jurgen Laansoo was fastest of all, a more consistent performance from the duo of Karol Krol and Emilia Rotko earned Poland its second bronze medal of the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games.
This just left the final, where Romberg was quickest of all for Team Germany with a total time of 1m21.324s. Dario Pemov was second for Belgium on raw pace, but he incurred three penalties for hitting cones. With Spielberger as consistent as ever, Germany’s victory was relatively comfortable as they secured the gold by a margin of 16.7s.
Karting Sprint Junior & Senior
Team Peru earned an historic first FIA Motorsport Games medal on their event debut, with young karter Andreas Cardenas claiming the inaugural gold medal for Karting Sprint Junior. Team Belgium also earned a place in the history books in the new Senior category, during two dramatic finals at the Circuit Paul Ricard kart track.
Considered a strong medal contender after scoring sixth, second and fifth place finishes in the three Qualifying Heats, Cardenas made a strong start from third on the grid to tail pole sitter and leader, Team Brazil’s Gabriel Koenigkan. Despite briefly conceding France’s Jules Caranta, Cardenas recovered the position to finish second at the flag.
Although Team France crossed the line first and Team Estonia third, five-second post race penalties dropped both down the order. Consequently, Team Brazil’s Gabriel Koenigkan – who had led the first half of the 26-lap race but got shuffled back to fifth – was promoted to the silver medal-winning position. Inheriting the bronze was Team Denmark’s Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen, who came through to medal-winning glory from eighth on the grid.
Team Belgium’s Elie Goldstein followed in his grandfather’s wheel tracks in earning an FIA title after a faultless pole-to-flag victory in the Senior competition. With 13 nations, including medal contenders Sweden and Spain, knocked out of contention on the opening lap, Yevan David and Ariel Elkin delivered a superb battle for second – David eventually seizing the silver medal, with Elkin taking a well deserved bronze – both earning their respective nations of Team Sri Lanka and Team Israel their first ever medals of the Games.
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