Race recaps from FIM Intercontinental Games (ICG) – Results & Points

FIM Intercontinental Games (ICG)

Images by GP Agency and Good Shot

The inaugural FIM Intercontinental Games wrapped up overnight in Jerez, where four thrilling races were fought out at high intensity.

The opening Supersport 300 bout was, quite simply, mad, and a sign of things to come…

FIM Intercontinental Games Supersport 300 Race One

Newly minted World Supersport 300 champion Aldi Mahendra (Asia) swept from sixth place on the grid into the lead early on, in what was a clear signal of what was to come. The only thing predictable about the 18-year-old was that he was entirely unpredictable!

Gonzalo Sanchez (Europe) had started from pole and was in that heady mix up front early on, while Archie McDonald (Oceania) headed the FIM Oceania charge alongside Cameron Swain.

Swain was as high as fourth across the early laps before having to serve a long-lap penalty for being deemed to have ridden slowly on the racing line during qualifying.

Countryman McDonald was in the lead many times across the 14-lap distance, going toe to toe with wildman Mahendra, the pair scything across each other and the Australian having to take evasive action to avoid contact with the slideways Indonesian many times throughout the race.

Kgopotso Mononyane (Africa) was also in that mix up front and in the lead many times before ultimately being disqualified for failing to serve long lap penalties after being deemed to have jumped the start.

Kiwi Jesse Stroud (Oceania) was in eighth place before running off on the exit of a left-hander that saw him run across a good hundred metres or so of kitty litter, followed by a similar distance on the grass. Before rejoining in 19th place, just behind Cameron Swain after the Australian served his long lap penalty with 12 laps to run, leaving the pair with plenty of work to do.

Maxwell Toth (North America) joined the fray up front with ten laps to run. The six-foot Californian contorting himself behind the screen of the YZF-R3 to get on terms with his much lighter rivals.

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Fellow North American rider Avery Dreher came together with Taigh Janse Van Rensburg (Africa) with eight laps to run, crashing out of 15th place. A couple of corners later Isis Carreno (Latin America) joined them in the kitty litter after crashing out of 11th.

At half-race distance it was briefly an FIM Asia 1-2 at the head of what was a 15-rider pack, Alessandro Di Persio joining Aldi Mahendra up front. Nothing really separated that entire group and Archie McDonald (Oceania) was still very much right in the mix amongst the front runners.

Cam Swain (Oceania) had caught back onto the tail of the leading group and at one point was the fastest rider on track. Jesse Stroud (Oceania) was also starting to reel his way in back to the front group.

Tara Morrison (Oceania) was in the third group of riders doing battle with American starlet Mikayla Moore, Miu Nakahara (Asia) and Jeronimo Gonzalez (Latin America).

Tomas Alonso (Europe) took his turn to lead with six laps to run. Poleman and youngest rider in the field Gonzalo Sanchez then went down at turn six while running in fourth place behind Archie McDonald. Cam Swain put in a new fastest lap of the race to move up to eighth in what had been a brilliant recovery from his early long-lap penalty.

Aldi Mahendra (Asia) went faster again on lap ten to move back into the lead ahead of Archie McDonald (Oceania), and Mahendra’s marker was then bested on lap 11 by Alessandro Di Persio (Europe).

As they started the last lap it was Mahindra, McDonald, Toth, Alonso, Swain, Di Persio and Mckinley Paz in a seven-rider breakaway.  Swain moved up to third place on the exit of turn one and seemed to have timed his run just right but got pushed wide a couple of turns later which saw him pushed back to sixth, but still right in the mix.

Alonso snuck past McDonald for second place. Swain was then punted off into the kitty litter by a crashing Paz at the final turn.

Aldi Mahendra won the run to the line for victory over Tomas Alonso, while Archie McDonald rounded out the podium after never being lower than fifth place for the entire 14-lap duration of the race.

Maxwell Toth right there also in fourth, after getting clear of Alessandro Di Persio.

After being in the fight for a podium into the final turn Swain recovered to 13th place to still bag some good points for Team Oceania. Team-mate Jesse Stroud had rounded out the top ten with 15-points while Tara Morrison brought home eight-points for Team Oceania with her 17th place.

That tallied 57-points for Team Oceania to rank equal second on the leaderboard with Team Europe while Team Asia took the early lead with 62-points.

FIM Intercontinental Games Supersport 300 Race One Results

FIM Intercontinental Games Supersport Race One

Three riders went down together on the exit of turn one on opening lap. Valentino Folger (Europe), Blake Davis (North America) and Leungo Gaorekwe (Africa) all unhurt but took no further part in the race.

Dino Iozzo (Africa) was the early leader ahead of Elia Bartolini (Europe), Humberto Maier (Latin America), Clint Seller (Africa), Mike Jones (Oceania) and Enzo De la Vega (Europe) – an early breakaway group of six.

Maier started to break away on lap three but Iozzo and Bartolini then caught back up to him and now the group of front was a three-rider affair that would ebb and flow all the way to the chequered flag. That trio running up to a second a lap quicker at times than their pursuers with ten laps to run.

Behind that triumvirate up front Clint Seller (Africa) was engaged in battle with Mike Jones (Oceania) for fourth place. Tom Toparis (Oceania) was seventh while Tayla Relph (Oceania) crashed out on lap ten after losing the front at turn eight. Team Oceania only fielding three riders in this contest after Max Stauffer was ruled out after breaking his hand on Friday.

Enzo De la Vega (Europe) had managed to reel in Mike Jones (Oceania) and Clint Seller (Africa) to join the battle for fourth with six laps to run. That contest unfolding around four-seconds behind the leading trio.

The red flag then came out after Clint Seller went down at Turn 11. The South African eventually walking away seemingly okay. That caused the race to be declared and when the red flag came out it had been Humberto Maier (Latin America) with his nose in front of Dino Iozzo (Africa) and Elia Bartolini (Europe) and thus that was our podium.

Enzo De la Vega (Europe) took fourth place ahead of Mike Jones (Oceania). Five-seconds further back Daniel Kasma (Asia) took sixth place by a nose over Tom Toparis (Oceania).

Despite the highest finishing Team Asia rider coming home sixth, with four-points scoring finishers they extended their lead at the head of the table to ten-points over Team Europe. Despite only two points-scoring finishers Team Oceania was holding onto third place, six-points ahead of Team North America, but it was now looking likely to shape up as a two-horse race for intercontinental honours between Asia and Europe.

FIM Intercontinental Games Supersport Race One Results

FIM Intercontinental Games Supersport 300 Race Two

Gonzalo Sanchez (Europe) led Cam Swain (Oceania), Kgopotso Mononyane (Africa), Aldi Mahendra (Asia) and Archie McDonald (Oceania) through the opening turns when the second and final Supersport 300 race got underway on Sunday afternoon. Swain grabbed the lead at one point on what was a pretty crazy opening lap.

As they started lap two almost the whole wide width of the Jerez main straight was filled with bikes braking for turn one, after throwing his YZF-R3 sideways into the corner it was Aldi Mahendra entering turn one first but emerging out the other side with the lead was Kgopotso Mononyane. Mahendra and Mononyane traded the lead numerous times over lap two and that trend continued into lap three as Tomas Alonso joined their party.

After three laps you could still pretty much throw a large blanket over the top 15. Archie McDonald was sixth while Cam Swain was very much in amongst that jumble of riders in tenth place.

Kiwi Jesse Stroud was in ninth place, that was until Max Toth went inside him and the two touched, Toth lost the front and skittled Stroud. Neither managed to rejoin the race.

Archie McDonald hit the lead with nine laps to go and resumed battle with Aldi Mahendra. The 18-year-old continued to trade the lead with the Indonesian before losing the front at turn one with five laps to run. McDonald rejoined the race at the back of the field, down in 19th place.

That left Cam Swain as the only Team Oceania rider in the leading group, that was until Avery Dreher crashed in front of him on the exit of turn one and left the 16-year-old nowhere to go. Both ending up in the kitty litter.

That left only two Team Oceania riders still running, Tara Morrison and Archie McDonald, and they were both at the very back of the field. Cam Swain and Jesse Stroud both failing to finish and thus scoring no points.

The leading group numbered eight with two laps to run and it was almost impossible to keep up with the lead changes.

When the chequered flag came out though it was Nahuel Santamaria with his in front when it mattered, taking maximum points for Team Latin America to see them move up to third overall in the continental standings, pushing Team Oceania back to fourth.

Gonzalo Sanchez taking second place and Aldi Mahendra claiming the final step on the rostrum, less than a tenth covered the podium finishers, and four-tenths covered the top six. That third place made Mahendra the highest points scorer across the two Supersport 300 contests ahead of Tomas Alonso.

Mahendra actually crossed the line first, but he was demoted two positions for pushing Santamaria too far towards the pit wall on the run to the line.

With only the final Supersport race to run Team Europe now led Team Asia by 18-points.

FIM Intercontinental Games Supersport 300 Race Two Results

FIM Intercontinental Games Supersport Race Two

Dino Iozzo (Africa) grabbed the early lead in the final YZF-R7 contest ahead of Humberto Maier (Latin America) and Elia Bartolini (Europe). Mike Jones was the leading Team Oceania riders in fifth at the end of lap one but then took two places in one swoop at turn one as they started lap two to move up to third.

A few corners later Jones hit the lead! Countryman Tom Toparis was at the back of the nine-rider leading group. Tayla Relph 18th at this early juncture.

Rain then started to fall which saw a few riders put their hands up and officials responded with a red flag to put a halt to the race with less than three laps completed.

Riders returned to the pits for Dunlop wets to be fitted to their machines as the rain started falling more heavily. After a short delay pit exit was opened for riders to complete a couple of sighting laps ahead of forming up for a race start over a shortened ten-lap distance in their original grid positions.

Dino Iozzo led the field through turn one somewhat tentatively when the race got underway but a couple of turns later Team Asia riders Apiwath Wongthanon and Daniel Kasma showed off their wet weather form as they hit the front and immediately started to pull away from the field.

With eight laps to run it then became a Team Asia 1-2-3 as Soichiro Minamimoto worked his way through the pack to join his team-mate up front. If they finished in that order Team Asia would win the event…

Team Africa upset their party though when Dino Iozzo and Leungo Gaorekwe took their turns up front as Mike Jones put in a new fastest lap of the race to start his march forward in the leading group.

At half-race distance Mike Jones moved into second place behind new race leader Elia Bartolini as the track continued to dry, moreso in some places than others in what made for tricky conditions. Tom Toparis was in sixth place at this juncture while Tayla Relph was in 16th.

Bartolini and Jones eventually managed to break away from the group to make the fight for the win a two-man affair. Jones put in the fastest lap of the race on the tenth and final lap to reel in Bartolini but the Italian managed to hold on for the victory.

Dino Iozzo rounded out the podium ahead of Apiwath Wongthanon.

Tom Toparis seventh and Tayla Relph 14th, which helped Team Oceania secure third place in the intercontinental standings ahead of Team North America. Both teams contested the event with seven riders after going a man down early on.

The victors Team Europe by 14-points over Team Asia. Europe and Asia were the only competitors able to field a full eight-rider team after other continental groups lost riders through injuries and late withdrawals.

Bartolini the top scoring Supersport rider across the two contests ahead of Dino Iozzo and Mike Jones.

Elia Bartolini – FIM Europe’ SSP Captain

“It’s been fantastic and I am so happy we won the title and I won the men’s AIROH Golden Helmet. I want to thank my team-mates – we struggled a bit at times but never gave up.”

FIM Intercontinental Games Supersport Race Two Results

FIM Intercontinental Games Supersport Rider 300 Rankings

FIM Intercontinental Games Supersport Rider Rankings

FIM Intercontinental Games Rankings

ICG explained

Bringing together the FIM’s six Continental Unions (CONU) of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and Oceania, and the City of Jerez FIM Intercontinental Games was contested across Supersport (SSP) and Supersport 300 (SSP300) classes, with other disciplines scheduled to be introduced as this biennial event becomes more established.

Each CONU was represented by an eight-rider team split equally between the two classes with R7 and R3 machines provided by ICG Official Partner Yamaha Motor Europe. In keeping with the FIM’s ongoing commitment to diversity, each CONU fielded two female racers with one in each class.

Each of FIM’s six Continental Unions  CONU race in their own colours – Asia in yellow, Latin America in purple, Oceania in green, Europe in blue, Africa in black and North America in red.

Competitors are fitted out in bespoke race suits with electronic airbags along with chest and back protectors and gloves provided by SPIDI, custom GP 800 FIM Racing #1 helmets from Airoh and XP9-R boots from XPD. Dunlop supply the tyres, Beta the tools and Panta Racing Fuel the petrol.

For Race 1 and Race 2, for both classes, FIM Intercontinental Games points are awarded to the finishers (Art. 1.22.2) on the following scale:

1. 24 points
2. 23 points
3. 22 points
4. 21 points
5. 20 points
6. 19 points
7. 18 points
8. 17 points
9. 16 points
10. 15 points
11. 14 points
12. 13 points
13. 12 points
14. 11 points
15. 10 points
16. 9 points
17. 8 points
18. 7 points
19. 6 points
20. 5 points
21. 4 points
22. 3 points
23. 2 points
24. 1 point

In the event of a tie in the number of points between CONUs, the final positions will be decided by the points of the best female rider represented in each team. If the tie persists, the final classification will be decided by the points scored of the best female riders in the last race. If it is still impossible to separate the teams then the fastest lap time achieved by the female riders across the whole event will decide the winner.

In each category, a trophy will be awarded to both the highest points scoring male and female. In the event of a tie in the number of points, the final best positions will be decided on the basis of the number of best results in the races (number of first places, number of second places etc.). If the tie persists, the final classification is decided by the points scored in the last race.

The next FIM Intercontinental Games will be held in 2026, with other disciplines scheduled to be introduced as this biennial event becomes more established.