In front of a large and enthusiastic live audience of 20,000 fans, Kylian Drumont produced a peerless performance to win the motor sport element of the 2023 Olympic Esports Series Finals in Singapore last weekend (22-25 June) – one of the undisputed highlights of the inaugural Olympic Esports Week.

Created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in collaboration with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and game publisher Polyphony Digital Inc, the Olympic Esports Series – the second edition of the virtual sports competition – took place in the spirit of diversity and inclusivity.

Bolstering the IOC’s ambition to promote the development of Esports within the Olympic Movement, the landmark event built bridges between the physical and virtual worlds of sport, while further connecting with the ever-growing gaming community.

After more than 150,000 original entrants had been whittled down to just 31 – the very crème de la crème of rising motor sport Esports stars with a large diversity of profiles and origins (Italy, France, Brazil, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, Chile, Hungary, Lebanon, Singapore, Andorra, Iraq, Mauritania, Lithuania, Philippinies, Estonia, Venezuela, Jordan, Zambia, Nepal, Kenya, Serbia, Nigeria, Mozambique, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Albania, Sri Lanka, Botswana, Rwanda) – battle began at Singapore’s Suntec Conference and Exhibition Centre in the presence of a live crowd for the first time. The finalists were cheered on by a full house of spectators on-site, with viewers additionally tuning in online all around the globe.

Following a one-hour practice session on Friday around the Deep Forest Raceway circuit on Gran Turismo 7 – with each participant piloting the Toyota GR010 HYBRID ’21 – qualifying the next day further reduced the high-calibre field to 12. On Sunday – race day – Chile’s Angel Inostroza made up for a troubled Saturday to secure pole position for the 42-lap contest, with Drumont lining up alongside him on the front row of the grid.

In evidence of the finals’ ultra-competitive nature, the Frenchman – who had set the pace the previous day – wound up just 0.081s adrift of the pole-sitter, being granted a second run after his initial effort was curtailed by a technical issue having posted a purple opening sector time.

A split strategy at the start of the race saw Inostroza pull away to begin with, prior to needing to pit on lap 11 to switch from soft to medium-compound tyres. Drumont went three laps longer before stopping to trade one set of mediums for another, after which he began to narrow the gap to the leader.

The pair made their second and final pit-stops on lap 27 (Inostroza, bolting on another set of medium tyres) and lap 30 (Drumont, who went onto softs). That elevated Spain’s José Serrano – who had briefly led earlier on by virtue of completing a long first stint on medium rubber – back to the head of the order.

Opting for a one-stop strategy, the hard tyres that Serrano had selected to get him through to the end of the race meant he ultimately fell into the clutches of the charging Inostroza and Drumont, with the latter timing his pass to perfection with ten laps remaining to despatch both of his rivals in a single move.

Drumont proceeded to stretch his advantage to more than five seconds at the chequered flag, with the UK’s William Murdoch exploiting the same tyre tactics to seal the runner-up spot, overhauling Inostroza – who had lost time in traffic mid-race – two laps from the end as the trio respectively claimed the gold, silver and bronze Olympic Esports Series 2023 trophies.

“We are delighted with the success of the inaugural Olympic Esports Week, and proud to have collaborated so closely once again with the IOC on a major project that has showcased our sport to a brand new audience”, commented Niroshan Pereira, President of the Esports Commission at the FIA. 

“We warmly congratulate all of our ASNs that participated so enthusiastically in the competition, which leaves us confident that motor sport has a very promising future in the virtual sphere.”