The 2019 MotoGP™ eSport Championship finale couldn’t be more beautifully poised as the three main title contenders qualified in the top four places for the year’s final race at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto.
The Championship battle could barely be closer as the top three riders – AndrewZh, trastevere73 and Cristianmm17 – are separated by just seven points. Double points are on offer for both of the year’s final two races, meaning anything can happen come Friday’s action-packed double-header at the #ValenciaGP!
Of those three contenders, it was AndrewZh who was the personification of coolness under pressure in the final qualifying session of the year. The championship leader, competing for the Ducati Team, produced a jaw-dropping late run, improving his personal best in each of his final three laps, to top the standings by 0.097s. This latest achievement means AndrewZh claims the Tissot Pole of Poles Award, the prize for the rider with the most pole positions in the 2019 MotoGP™ eSport Championship.
2019 has seen Cristianmm17 regularly take the fight to the Italian however and again it was the Team Suzuki ECSTAR rider who was the closest challenger. The Spaniard sits just 4 points behind the leader in the championship standings but should fancy his chances at the 2.7-mile Spanish venue thanks to the sweet-handling capabilities of his Suzuki GSX-RR.
A last-gasp effort from class rookie Wimp (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was enough for a surprise slot on the front row as his time of 1:33.365 placed him third. That also pushed reigning champion trastevere73 off the front row in an incident-packed session. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider suffered a huge crash mid-way through qualifying, but will still be in with a shout from the start of the second row. Juan_nh16 (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was fifth ahead of EleGhosT555 (Repsol Honda Team) in sixth.
Friday’s action will be available to watch live on the official championship websites motogp.com and esport.motogp.com, as well as across social media platforms including YouTube (via the MotoGP and MotoGP eSport channels), MotoGP eSport Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (via both the MotoGP and MotoGP eSport pages).
As well as digital coverage, as many as 15 selected TV networks will broadcast the last event of the season – with the finale currently set to be shown by DAZN in Spain, Sky in Italy, BT Sport in the UK, Trans7 in Indonesia, FOX Australia, ESPN across Spanish-speaking Latin America, Sony Sports India, OTE in Greece, MTV3 in Finland, RTBF in Belgium, Viasat across Scandinavia, RTS in Switzerland, SuperSport in South African, and Sportklub in Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. Red Bull will also broadcast the event on RedBull TV and Twitch.
Qualifying Results:
1st AndrewZh: 1:33.253
2nd Cristianmm17: 1:33.351 (+0.097)
3rd Wimp: 1:33.365 (+0.111)
4th trastevere73: 1:33.400 (+0.146)
5th Juan_nh16: 1:33.468 (+0.214)
6th EleGhosT555: 1:33.611 (+0.357)
7th adrianDP26: 1:33.787 (+0.533)
8th MOE: 1:34.035 (+0.781)
9th MrTftw: 1:34.162 (+0.908)
10th Rllorca: 1:34.167 (+0.914)
11th XxBoMbeR_45xX: 1:34.373 (+1.119)
12th Mereja: 2:32.830 (+59.576)