Unfinished business. That’s what the FIA Motorsport Games are for me. But to understand why, we need to look at what the Games are.
The FIA’s Motorsport Games is a three-day, multi-discipline motorsport event covering everything from karting to Esports to GTs and even – new for 2024 – truck racing. It’s essentially a motoring-oriented equivalent of the Olympics, with a plethora of events taking place and, crucially, drivers competing for their countries. That swap to countries over teams makes it a very different prospect – both for drivers and for fans.
For fans, it’s almost the perfect gateway into other forms of racing. It showcases some of the best motorsport you’ll see, with simplified versions of the different categories. It’s a purer approach, where it’s racing at its most fundamental. This is especially true in the GT classes.
Rather than a lengthy race with rules that could be confusing to newcomers and multiple classes all racing at the same time, here it’s one pitstop, a driver swap, and the first over the line is the winner. No class winners, no six-hour-long races with different cars at different stages and strategies putting people out of position – just an hour-long race to decide who walks away with the gold.
The nationality-based teams also make it more accessible for finding who to support. Drivers competing for their country means that new fans can see their national team and see how their country is doing. It immediately makes it easier for someone to feel invested – instead of tuning in to see cars and teams and drivers you’ve perhaps not heard of, your country is right there in front of you.
Another thing that makes the games different – you get the chance to see huge names compete alongside, and against, stars of the future. Touring car veteran Tom Coronel and Le Mans class winner Matt Campbell both stood atop podiums in 2022, while a certain Andrea Kimi Antonelli won gold in the Formula 4. Two years later, he’d been announced as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes for 2025.
Nowhere else will you see a better collection of names competing in earnest. And that’s part of what makes Motorsport Games unique – the opportunity to watch hungry young drivers taking on experienced pros. The upstarts desperately want to prove themselves on this global stage against seasoned professionals, while those same professionals almost have their reputation on the line each time they take to the track.
The winner-takes-all aspect heightens that – there are no dropped scores, there are no other rounds to try and make up a points deficit. You win or you lose, and that’s that.
With so many events – there are 28 different categories this time – there’s always something going on. You can immerse yourself in so many different types of motorsport, and it really keeps you occupied as a fan. It allows you so much exposure to not only different kinds of racing but different racers, and this can bring a lot of eyeballs from a lot of other kinds of racing.
Perhaps you’re a formula fan and haven’t been able to get into GT racing because of the length of races – no problem, the races are an hour long. Maybe you’re a karting fan but fancy checking out drifting – that’s there as well. Always been intrigued by cross car racing? They’ve got you covered.
A severe bout of food poisoning confined me to my hotel room having made it out to Paul Ricard, forcing me to listen to the unmistakeable sounds of racing that I should have been a part of
Of course, competing for your country also changes it for us drivers. You’re more focused on the result because you know you’re doing it for everyone at home. A bad result isn’t just a bad result for you or your team, but for your country. Nobody wants to let the side down, and that adds a lot more pressure.
That’s where I come in as Team Captain. I’ll be acting as the figurehead for the team – a support structure, offering advice and help in as much or as little of a capacity as each individual driver wants. It’s a role I’m immensely proud to be taking, and it brings us to my unfinished business.
I took part in the first iteration of the games back in 2019. Competing alongside Flick Haigh – the first woman to win the British GT3 championship – we flew the flag for Team UK in the GT Cup. The 2022 Games were the next up and, while I’d again be competing in GT Cup, this time it was to be alongside my role as captain of Team UK – or, at least, that was the plan. A severe bout of food poisoning confined me to my hotel room having made it out to Paul Ricard, forcing me to listen to the unmistakeable sounds of racing that I should have been a part of just outside my window.
GT racer Sam Neary was drafted into both the driver’s seat and team captain role and, alongside Ian Loggie, secured one of the two medals Team UK scored that year. Now, I’m back. And during that last weekend of October, I have some business to take care of. I’ll see you there.
Meet Team UK
Here’s who will be representing the United Kingdom in the third edition of the FIA Motorsport Games in Valencia, across the multiple disciplines from circuit racing to Esports and everything in between.
Team captain/GT Cup: Chris Froggatt
Froggatt did not have a conventional route into racing via karting and single-seaters, and first competed in the European Ferrari Challenge. He’s become a GT racing regular and won the 2021 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Pro-Am Cup and the Bronze Cup in the same series two years later, both times with his long-term team Tempesta Racing. Food poisoning meant Froggatt missed out on competing at the 2022 edition of the Games, even though he was present, but he returns aiming to make his mark with Team UK. This year he will be partnered with James Cottingham in Tempesta’s Ferrari 296 GT3 to test his mettle on the 2.5-mile Circuit Ricardo Tormo, as well as leading Team UK.
GT Cup: James Cottingham
A competitive racer in historics, Cottingham has also proved to be a capable performer in contemporary GT machinery. He was runner-up in the 2023 British GT championship with three victories alongside Jonny Adam in a 2 Seas Mercedes. This year he has been racing McLaren’s 720 GT3 Evo, with Garage 59 in GT World Challenge Europe and United Autosports in the World Endurance Championship.
GT Sprint: Darren Leung
Leung has made an impressive impact on GT racing despite being another driver to start late. He only began competing in the Ginetta GT Academy in 2021 and yet, just over two years later, was crowned British GT champion alongside rising star Dan Harper in a Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. He currently lies third in the World Endurance Championship LMGT3 standings with WRT, though the 37-year-old faces a stern challenge going it alone in the GT Sprint contest.
GT Single-Make (Ferrari): James Owen
Owen began competing in motorsport in 2023 and has completed two seasons of the Ferrari Challenge Europe series. Last year he dominated at Silverstone’s GT Cup round in the GTC class, with his Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cruising to victory in all four races. The 35-year-old Welshman is keen to continue on his success in Valencia as Team UK’s Ferrari specialist.
Touring Car: Jenson Brickley
Brickley will be joining the team in the Touring Car discipline, competing in his Cupra Leon VZ TCR. Following in his father Ian’s footsteps, Brickley scored successes in short-oval competition, then Fiesta Junior before graduating to TCR. He was third in the UK last season and is currently leading the TCR Spain standings. Brickley works on his own car during race weekends.
Formula 4: Reza Seewooruthun
Currently in his second year of the Motorsport UK Academy, an opportunity to try out karting during a family holiday piqued Seewooruthun’s interest. He was third in Ginetta Junior in 2023, helped by a hat-trick of wins at Brands Hatch. He then stepped into single-seaters this year, winning two races and finishing third in British F4 with Hitech. He should therefore be pretty familiar with the Tatuus machinery he’ll race at Valencia.
Drifting: Lwi Edwards
Drifting has grown massively over the years, and Edwards will be competing in his 1997 BMW E36 Coupe, fitted with a Magnuson supercharger-equipped Chevrolet LSX376 V8 engine. His family has a background in rallying, so going sideways is very familiar to Edwards, and the 16-year-old has had their full support as he continues to make an impression on the British drifting scene – last year, he won the Motorsport UK Drift Pro Championship.
Karting Sprint Junior: Jorge Edgar
The 14-year-old will represent the UK in the Karting Sprint Junior category, following in the footsteps of his sister Jess, who competed in the 2019 FIA Motorsport Games. Edgar was one of a field of 112 drivers at the recent FIA Karting World Championship in the OK-Junior class, and was the 2021 British IAME Cadet Open Champion.
Karting Mini: Austin Gibson
Gibson will be joining the team in the Karting Mini discipline, following a successful year in the 2023 British Kart Championships, where he took the Water Swift Restricted title in a field of nine 8-12-year-olds. He was also awarded Kartmaster Champion. It will be interesting to see how the promising 10-year-old stacks up in a competitive field.
Karting Endurance: Team Titan
Rhianna Purcocks, 2023 British University Karting Championships Graduate Drivers’ champion, will be competing as part of Team Titan, alongside brothers Jack and Andy O’Neill in the Karting Endurance division. This is Purcocks’s second time competing in the FIA Motorsport Games, and she also has experience in the Club 100 series.
Rally 2: Ollie Mellors and Ian Windress
Derbyshire-based driver Mellors returns to compete for the second time in the Games, alongside older brother Ben. Ollie, 29, took the second Phil Price Memorial Woodpecker Rally win of his career this year, overcoming tricky conditions. He has racked up plenty of experience – and class wins – in his Proton Iriz R5 in recent years, chiefly in the UK but has also competed in France. He will once again share with Windress.
Historic Rally: Ben Mellors and Alex Lee
The older Mellors brother will compete in his rare 1979 Toyota Celica GT RA40, buoyed by a recent win at the Rallye Vosges Grande. Mellors, Lee and the rear-wheel-drive Toyota should be a potent combination and could improve on Team UK’s fifth in 2022, but that was an event dominated by a 4WD Audi Quattro…
Historic Rally Gravel: Team Flexifly
Ernie Graham and his co-driver daughter Anna will compete in the Historic Rally Gravel in their Ford Escort RS. Their team, which has also run a BMW M3, has a history of success abroad, having proved competitive during the 2019 FIA European Historic Sporting Rally Championship, held in Rome.
Historic Rally Tarmac: Team Flexifly
James Potter and co-driver Tim Sayer are the UK representatives in the Historic Rally Tarmac section. Sayer, with Ernie Graham in the driving seat, won the Historic Class in the 2017 Donegal International Rally in a Ford Escort Mk2.
Esports GT: Kieran Prendergast
The Rocket Simsport and Brabham Motorsport driver will compete in the new GT Category.
Esports FIA F4: Matt Caruana
Multiple Esports champion Caruana will race in F4, in which he has been a frontrunner before.
Auto Slalom: Mark King and Tessa Whittock
King will compete in the FIA Motorsport Games for a second time. He finished seventh in the Auto Slalom at the 2022 edition in Marseille, despite it being his first time competing in a left-hand-drive vehicle. King emerged as the fastest driver in three out of the four sessions in which Team UK participated. He will join forces with Whittock, a renowned drifter, who is making the transition to the Auto Slalom to fly the British flag.
