After the first four Challenges in the 2018 MotoGP™ eSport Championship we have our 12 Semi Finalists who’ll be playing in Semi Final 1 at Misano on Friday 7th September. That event will be broadcast live from 18:30 (GMT +2), so before the lights go out, let’s meet the competitors:
The first three gamers moving through are ANDERWSZH, TRASTEVERE73 and SUOMY – our Challenge #1 graduates who mastered the Circuit of the Americas. ANDERWSZH is Italian, from Bologna, and is a Valentino Rossi and Yamaha fan. That’s also true of reigning Champion TRASTEVERE73, from Rome – and they also share a favourite track: the stunning Autodromo del Mugello. SUOMY, meanwhile, hails from Worcester in the UK and he’s a fan of Casey Stoner, Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. His favourite track? Czech classic Brno.
Some familiar names moving through from Challenge #2: AADRIAN_26, from Las Palmas in Spain, made it to the Semi Final stage in 2017. His favourite rider is – you guessed it – Dani Pedrosa, his favourite bike is the Honda and his favourite track is Austria. LUIGI48GP is also a returner and came sixth last season. He’s Italian, from Naples, and his picks are Valentino Rossi, Phillip Island and the Yamaha M1.
JUANNH_16, from Seville, is another new name for 2018. His favourite track is homegrown: the awesome Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto in his native Andalucia, but the KTM is his favourite bike. It was the KTM that he, ANDERWSZH and SUOMY took to the top in Challenge #2, held at the Sachsenring
Challenge #3 provides our next three gamers: CRISTIANMM17, TIMOTHYMCGARDEN61 and IVAN_AVELLA. They were the quickest on the Aprilia RS-GP at Qatar. CRISTIANMM17 is Spanish and he was the runner-up in 2017 – sure to be stiff competition once again. His favourite rider is Dani Pedrosa, his favourite bike is the Yamaha and his favourite track is the Sachsenring. TIMOTHYMCGARDEN61, meanwhile, comes from Mainz in Germany and was fifth last year. His favourites? Valentino Rossi, the Yamaha and the Twin Ring Motegi.
IVAN_AVELLA is our fourth Italian making it through and hails from Naples, just like fellow Semi Finalist LUIGI48GP, and came third last year. His favourite track is Mugello and his favourite riders are Valentino Rossi, Enea Bastianini and Malaysian Adam Norrodin. His favourite bike brings back the patriotism a little, however: it’s the Bologna bullet – the Ducati. Compatriot IOTIFOROSSI hails from Civitavecchia and goes for the Yamaha, nine-time World Champion Rossi and the sundrenched Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. He also got to the Semi Final last year and will be another tough competitor!
The final familiar name is PAUL_IG. One of those moving through from Challenge #4 after being one of the fastest playing as Andrea Iannone at the Red Bull Ring, PAUL_IG was fourth overall last season. His favourites? It’s Rossi and the Yamaha, and the classic TT Circuit Assen for the gamer from Bilbao.
New name ELEGHOST555 is a Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa fan. Despite hailing from Jerez, his favourite track is the Sachsenring – just like fellow Pedrosa fan and Semi Finalist CRISTIANMM17. ELEGHOST555’s favourite bike is also the Yamaha – could that be the beginning of a big rivalry?
It’s time for Misano and Semi Final 1! Will the returning names keep the glory in the first Semi Final? Or can ELEGHOST555 turn the tables? Find out from 18:30 (GMT +2) on the 7th September when Semi Final 1 is broadcast live from the Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini!