This week in Motorsport Series News, the FIA Motorsport Games returns, Peugeot officially announce their 2022 racing plans, an intriguing rumor of a long-vanished manufacturer returning to racing, a potential new Mercedes-AMG GT3 car and more.
- The FIA Motorsport Games are set for a 2022 return after Covid-induced delays. Taking place between 26-30 October 2022, around 80 nations are expected to compete representing the individual FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) National Sporting Authorities (ASNs) from each country. They will race in a vastly expanded programme of 17 disciplines spanning the motorsport spectrum, staged across the three locations of Circuit Paul Ricard, Veynes and St. Baume. New for 2022, the Endurance category will now bring a combined 150-minute long-distance contest to the FIA Motorsport Games featuring both LMP3 and GT3 machinery. The Sprint event for Pro racers will also complement the two-driver GT Cup which retains its Pro-Am driver grading ethos, promising fantastic track-side entertainment for fans.
- Registration for competing nations will be open from 15 June to 25 September 2022, via the dedicated FIA registration platform. Competitors wishing to represent their county are also encouraged to contact their respective National Sporting Authorities.
- A core objective of the FIA Motorsport Games is to make motorsport more accessible for fans, who will be at the centre of the action with free access available to all aspects of competition. Details of how to register for tickets will be announced soon. In the meantime, fans can keep updated with all the preparation and in-depth news leading up to the event on the fiamotorsportgames.com website.
Sportscars
- Peugeot Sport has announced that their 9X8 will make its WEC debut at the 6 Hours of Monza. The car is currently in the “final stages” of the homologation process. Daily Sportscar has some keynotes from the launch while Road & Track explain that the absurd Peugeot 9X8 is why sports car racing exists.
- As I mentioned above, the FIA has confirmed that a combined LMP3 and GT3 endurance race will be part of this year’s Motorsport Games, which will take place at Circuit Paul Ricard near Marseille this October. According to Sportscar365, “the new-for-2022 category will will consist of a 150-minute race featuring three drivers of the same nationality. Further details on the driver grading requirements have yet to be disclosed. It joins the returning GT Cup for Pro-Am driver lineups, which debuted in the inaugural edition at Vallelunga in 2019, and a previously announced single-driver GT Sprint contest, which will be 60 minutes in length for pro pilots.”
- Daily Sportscar sources are confirming that long-dormant (in the automotive marketplace) Italian luxury brand Isotta Fraschini is involved with a design study for a near-future LMH car. “The Isotta Fraschini management team under new owner Colombian oil entrepreneur Franck Kanapet Yepes, involves ex-Maserati and Alfa Romeo man Alfredo Reboa with the effort already engaged with multiple significant technical partners both for their motorsport programme and for a parallel establishment of the brand for high-end bespoke EV road cars.”
- Mercedes-AMG’s head of customer racing has outlined the manufacturer’s future trajectory in GT3 racing including the prospect of a new model arriving in 2025. “We will stick with it until minimum 2024, and then in 2025 a new homologation period begins. This could be a good chance for us. We are looking at the development of a new car.”
Single-Seaters
- Speed Cafe reports that the John Blanchard Senior Memorial Cup has been introduced to reward the Australian Formula Ford Series young gun of the year. “My family has been involved in Formula Ford for a long time and it’s a category that my grandfather loved. He was always a keen supporter of young drivers in Formula Ford,” said Tim Blanchard. “There’s more to motor racing than outright speed and that’s what we want this award to reflect. This category is about learning and what we want to see is young drivers using Formula Ford to grow both in and out of the car.”