Georgian karting racer and auto slalom national champion Mariam Davitidze is set to continue to make her way in motorsport, as she plans to return to the third edition of the FIA Motorsport Games.
Karting racer and auto slalom national champion Mariam Davitidze is set to represent her country Georgia at the next FIA Motorsport Games in Valencia, Spain, making her second appearance at the biggest FIA event for nations after the 2022 edition at Le Castellet.
With female participation a key point in discipline, Davitidze took part in the newly-launched Karting Endurance category, where she was part of the 4-driver crew representing Georgia - among the teams that lined up more than one female driver.
Davitidze is already an acclaimed karting driver in the Caucasian country, having won the BTM Open Cup 2021-22, when she effectively kickstarted her racing career as a first-generation driver.
"My passion for autosport began when I was just 7 years old", she told us. "I went to my classmates' birthday which was held in our local indoor karting space. From that moment I knew that this was my sport."
"The first step of my racing career was in 2021-2022 in my own country", Mariam said, summing up how her passion for the sport is developing. "Even though I was 17 years old, I became champion of a karting tournament among 63 competitors - most of them males", she continued. "There were 12 races and I won most of them, despite missing some which were held in a different city."
From there, Davitidze decided to step up her karting commitments and traveled to Europe for her first races outside her home borders.
"My first race out of my country was held in Germany", she said. "It was the KTWB Championship on senior kart and I raced in one of their races. I finished second in my class!"
With an increasing number of national ASNs being involved in the second edition of the FIA Motorsport Games - an international event that brings together some of the most promising young talents across various disciplines of motor racing representing their nations in true Olympic spirit - Davitidze's next big step of her career was being enrolled in the karting endurance team for the Georgian Federation.
"We had a lot of misfortunes, we got disqualified from qualifying and started from P9 out of 16 teams, but we still managed to get the fourth place on the last turn of the 4 hour race", Mariam recalled.
In 2023, she took on a new form of autosport that is becoming increasingly popular and cost-effective - auto slalom - and she did so with immediate success.
"I became champion in auto slalom in my country in 2023", Davitidze explained.
With motorsport being in a developmental stage in Georgia, it is encouraging to see the young talents of tomorrow emerging from diverse countries, where they might play an influential role at an early stage to help boost the popularity of the sport also at international level.
"As you know my country is not big at all, therefore autosport is not very popular, but our federation is doing everything to develop this sport in our country", she told us. And the GASF (Georgian Automobile Sport Federation) is indeed working in this direction, starting from grassroots competitions as well as incentivizing female participation.
"No one in my family was ever engaged in this sport but they still have my back and help me grow day by day", concluded Davitidze, who is determined to make her way in the sport. "I am already a champion in my country but I want to become world champion, which is what I plan to do this year at the FIA Motorsport Games."
The third edition of the event will be held in Valencia, Spain, from 23-27 October 2024.
Drivers from across the world and all levels of motorsport will compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals. The 2022 edition at Marseille (Le Castellet) saw 72 nations and 463 competitors competing in 16 different categories - and the 2024 edition of the games is expected to be even bigger, with an expanded number of categories and countries represented.
