A collision and racing bad luck prevented a better result for PROsport Racing at the FIA Motorsport Games.
The FIA Motorsport Games, which are regarded as the Olympics of motorsport, were held for the second time in Le Castellet. In a total of 16 disciplines, 72 nations competed against each other. PROsport Racing entered an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the GT Cup for the two Ukrainians Yevgen Sokolovsky and Ivan Peklin. While Sokolovsky celebrated his GT3 racing debut, Peklin traveled to the event in southern France as a race winner in the International GT Open.
The first qualifying race on Friday evening got off to an inauspicious start for the Ukrainian duo. On the starting lap, Sokolovsky, who normally competes for the team in ADAC GT4 Germany, spun and dropped to the back of the field. In the remaining race time, the duo showed a strong recovery and drove back to ninth position in the Vantage GT3, missing eighth place by less than a second. The two Ukrainians finished the second qualifying run in sixth place.
The main race started with a spectacular recovery by Ivan Peklin. The 21-year-old showed a strong start at the wheel of the British sports car and fought his way up from 7th on the grid to second position. But shortly before the mandatory pit stop, the shock came for the two drivers. Lying in third position, the Vantage GT3 was hit by the Mercedes-AMG GT3 from Brazil and flipped over. In addition, Yevgen Sokolovskiy had to serve a drive-through penalty after the driver change because he had fallen short of the minimum pit stop time. So in the end it was only enough for eleventh position for the driver duo.
“I drove my heart out today,” said Peklin after the race. “I started the race from seventh position and drove up to second. In third position I got hit and flipped over, destroying all our podium chances. Nevertheless, I am proud of our performance and that of Yevgen, who showed a strong performance in his first GT3 race. PROsport Racing and Aston Martin provided us with a strong car. I am very grateful to the Ukrainian Motorsport Federation for giving me the opportunity to represent our country in this event. In addition, I am infinitely grateful for the support we have received.”
“Thank you to everyone who supported us and thank you to PROsport Racing, as well as our fans and friends. We gave 120%,” summarizes Yevgen Sokolovskiy, who lives in Düsseldorf, Germany. “These FIA Motorsport Games will always be in our hearts!”
