A new motorcycle racing event will take place in the winter of 2024, as the FIM Intercontinental Games was officially launched at Jerez MotoGP round.
The event seems to be the first of its kind, in that various FIM Continental Unions (CONUs) will be battling it out on two wheels, across multiple disciplines and at various tracks. It’s a similar concept to the Motocross of Nations event (which sees riders representing a nation fighting for overall glory), although it will be regions in this case. CONUs to be represented at the biennial event are Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America and Oceania.
The first event will be taking place between 30 November and 1 December 2024, and will be held at the track which was the scene of its unveiling, Jerez. The event will officially be known as the FIM Intercontinental Games Jerez 2024. It won’t stay at Jerez, though, as the FIM and Dorna, which is supporting the series by broadcasting via the Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports Europe network, plan to move the event every two years, with the title of the event for each edition being named after the venue at which it is taking place.
The inaugural event will see riders from the above-mentioned regions battling it out on track, with Yamaha providing R3 and R7 machinery. Each CONU will put forward a four-rider team including at least one woman per class who may come from the FIM Women's Circuit Racing World Championship. Each team will be able to select another rider participating in an FIM World Championship who will be nominated as team captain. So for this category, the team captain could theoretically be Marc Marquez from MotoGP, Alvaro Bautista from World Superbike, or someone from a lower class like World Supersport or Moto2, although it’s not clear how riders contracted to manufacturers other than Yamaha will be able to compete.
The 2024 edition of the event will see racers competing over four races, two on the Yamaha R7 and two on the Yamaha R3. Points will be awarded to each rider based on their ranking and will be added to the points of the other team members to determine which of the six FIM Continental Unions will be the first to win the Games.
While the press release only mentions the two classes for this first event, it does note that in future it will look to expand the competition meaning it could include disciplines, with Motocross and Enduro both mentioned.
Speaking about the announcement, FIM President Jorge Viegas said:
“In this, the FIM’s one-hundred-and-twentieth anniversary year, it is incredibly exciting to be launching the FIM Intercontinental Games that will bring together all six FIM Continental Unions. It is a landmark competition that I have been keen to see happen since I first proposed it twenty-two years ago and I am delighted that we will finally see the first edition come to life later this year. I would like to especially thank Yamaha Europe, the city of Jerez, Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto, Dorna, WBD Sports Europe, Dunlop, SPIDI, Xpd, Airoh, Beta, Panta and everyone involved in making this incredible event possible.”
