James Owen took the Trofeo Pirelli AM title this past weekend in tricky conditions, gaining the world title behind the wheel of his Meridian Modena – Engstler just days out from the FIA Motorsport Games.

Owen made the most of the rain, which fell heavily during the last 10 minutes of the race, which rivals Giacomo Altoè and Luca Ludwig eliminated from the battle for remaining on the track with slicks for too long.

Altoè got the best possible start from pole, with Ludwig slotting in behind aiming to hassle him throughout in an all-Italian duel. The first upset, however, came after 10 minutes with a spectacular high-speed incident at Tamburello.

Shortly before the braking point, Claus Zibrandtsen lost control of his 296, and after suddenly swerving to the left, the Danish driver’s car picked up speed on the wet grass and slid towards the chicane, hitting Luigi Coluccio’s 296 head-on. The impact was violent, but fortunately both stepped out of their respective cars unscathed.

This incident, however, forced the Race Direction to display the red flag, stopping the race for several minutes to allow the track marshals to remove the damaged cars.

With eight minutes to go, the rain started to fall and Altoè had to give up first place to Owen. Both the Italians were on slicks, while Owen, who had switched to rain tyres earlier, immediately felt at ease on the wet track and powered his way ahead.

Owen was able to manage an advantage of more than half a minute over second-placed Roberto Perrina, first among the Trofeo Pirelli drivers.

A few moments later, Jay Logan went off the track, ending up beached in the gravel. This forced the Race Direction to send the Safety Car out again, thus wiping out the advantage of more than half a minute that Owen had accumulated in the previous laps.

At that point, with four minutes plus one lap to go, the race ended under the Safety Car, with Owen ahead of Giammarco Marzialetti and crowned Trofeo Pirelli AM champion.

James Owen will compete in the GT Single Make-Ferrari class for 2024 FIA Motorsport Games, held in Valencia, Spain from 23-27 October.

The GT Sprint Race takes place at 14:30 (CET) this Sunday, and will be streamed on the FIA Motorsport Games YouTube channel.