Great driving and numerous young athletes from 15 European autosport federations marked the first ever FIA Esports South European Zone Cup 2022. After successful FIA Motorsport games this was an official FIA zone tournament supported by the FIA Sport Grant Programme and under organization by Croatian Automobile & Karting Federation.
The first edition of the FIA Esports South European Zone Cup on the Assetto Corsa Competizione platform took place on Monday and Tuesday, December 19th and 20th. Also, the points were awarded for the first FIA Central European Zone 2022 Championship. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Israel, Kosovo, Hungary, Malta, North Macedonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Spain and Poland* (* only CEZ Championships) competed for the Trophies in four races held on four legendary European circuits: Monza, Catalunya, Spa-Francorchamps, and Nürburgring. Three races were run in dry conditions, and a special challenge for the drivers was the famous Belgian track in rainy weather.
Czech Martin Kadlečik representing ACCR was the first winner of the FIA Esports South European Zone Cup! First in Monza, seventh in Barcelona, winner at Spa, and winner again at the Nürburgring – with 68.5 points he won the premier FIA Esports South European Zone Cup, and was second in the FIA CEZ standings!
“The competition was great, I had a couple of fights with a lot of respect and there were some very fast drivers in the championship. The best race was definitely wet Spa, where I found some good pace in the car and I was confident, which led to a victory”, said the winner Martin Kadlečik.
In second place in the Southern European Cup was Filip Borovec from Croatia with 63 points. His best race was the one in Barcelona, when he was second. The bronze medal in the FIA Esports South European Cup was won by the representative of the Republic of North Macedonia, Matija Marković. He collected 44 points, seven more than Slovakian Tomaš Tlstovič and Maltese Dean Vella.
The fastest driver overall was Dominik Blajer from Poland. He won races at Monza, Catalunya, and Nürburgring, while he took second place at rainy Spa-Francorchamps. With that, Blajer won first place in the FIA Esports Central European Zone 2022 Championship with a great 80.5 points.
“It was amazing to be a part of such a nice event. It was my first time in a FIA competition and it was good to compete against many good drivers. I hope there will be more events like that in the future”, said the Polish driver Dominik Blajer.
The races were broadcast live on the YouTube, Twitch and some of the European TV’s, with excellent coverage by the commentators Lewis McGlade and Zach Sweeney.
”Four years ago we started the FIA Digital motorsport working group which grew into the big Esports system with organized racing in the World under the umbrella of the FIA. I think this is just the start and Esports is becoming a true grassroots discipline for bringing young competitors to the World of racing!” said Davorin Stetner, FIA Esports South European Zone co-ordinator and the president of the Croatian federation.
“First of alI I would like to congratulate Croatian Automobile & Karting Federation and the President Mr Davorin Stetner for this great initiative. I believe Esports can serve as inspiration and building platform to others, as we continue our efforts in making the motorsport industry more inclusive and accessible for everyone.” said Anna Nordkvist, FIA Vice President Sport Europe.
“It is great to see how some Europe ASNs are taking the initiative to promote International Esport competitions. It is a good way to develop the next step above the national simracing championships. I want to congratulate the Croatian Automobile & Karting Federation and its president Davorin Štetner for this proposal. Of course, he will count on us to provide a driver to represent Spain in the competition and we are sure the rest ASNs of the region will follow the same steps.” said Manuel Aviñó, FIA Vice President Sport Europe.