diff --git a/src/states_screens/minimal_race_gui.cpp b/src/states_screens/minimal_race_gui.cpp
index 542b97699..c9fc40b9a 100644
--- a/src/states_screens/minimal_race_gui.cpp
+++ b/src/states_screens/minimal_race_gui.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ MinimalRaceGUI::MinimalRaceGUI()
 {    
     m_enabled = true;
     
+    // Ignore item messages. 
+    ignoreUnimportantMessages();
+
     // Originally m_map_height was 100, and we take 480 as minimum res
     const float scaling = irr_driver->getFrameSize().Height / 480.0f;
     // Marker texture has to be power-of-two for (old) OpenGL compliance
diff --git a/src/states_screens/race_gui_base.cpp b/src/states_screens/race_gui_base.cpp
index b38b0ca41..04338d813 100644
--- a/src/states_screens/race_gui_base.cpp
+++ b/src/states_screens/race_gui_base.cpp
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
 
 RaceGUIBase::RaceGUIBase()
 {
+    m_ignore_unimportant_messages = false;
     m_lightning             = 0.0f;
     m_max_font_height       = GUIEngine::getFontHeight() + 10;
     m_small_font_max_height = GUIEngine::getSmallFontHeight() + 5;
@@ -204,9 +205,10 @@ void RaceGUIBase::drawAllMessages(const Kart* kart,
     const int x = (viewport.LowerRightCorner.X + viewport.UpperLeftCorner.X)/2;
     const int w = (viewport.LowerRightCorner.X - viewport.UpperLeftCorner.X);
     
-    // draw less important first, at the very bottom of the screen
+    // Draw less important messages first, at the very bottom of the screen
     // unimportant messages are skipped in multiplayer, they take too much screen space
-    if (race_manager->getNumLocalPlayers() < 2)
+    if (race_manager->getNumLocalPlayers() < 2 && 
+        !m_ignore_unimportant_messages)
     {
         for (AllMessageType::const_iterator i = m_messages.begin(); 
              i != m_messages.end(); ++i)
diff --git a/src/states_screens/race_gui_base.hpp b/src/states_screens/race_gui_base.hpp
index 34d1d7556..9aaed6693 100644
--- a/src/states_screens/race_gui_base.hpp
+++ b/src/states_screens/race_gui_base.hpp
@@ -68,6 +68,10 @@ private:
     /** Delight in seconds between lightnings. */
     float m_lightning;
 
+    /** True if unimportant messags (like item messages) should not
+     *  be displayed. */
+    bool  m_ignore_unimportant_messages;
+
     class TimedMessage
     {
      public:
@@ -147,6 +151,10 @@ protected:
     void drawGlobalMusicDescription();
     void drawGlobalReadySetGo  ();
 
+    /** Instructs the base gui to ignore unimportant messages (like
+     *  item messages).
+     */
+    void ignoreUnimportantMessages() { m_ignore_unimportant_messages = true; }
 public:
     
     bool m_enabled;