The 2020 MotoGP™ eSport Championship is fully up and running as the second Online Challenge of the Pro Draft kicked off on Thursday 19th March in which gamers across the world take on Thailand’s Chang International Circuit with Andrea Dovizioso’s Ducati Team Desmosedici.
And after a highly competitive first Challenge, the stakes are high for those seeking to climb the leaderboard. Here is another chance for competitors from around the globe to put their skills to the test against the very best MotoGP eSports has to offer!
Thailand is still a relatively new addition to the MotoGP™ calendar after a highly successful debut at the Chang International Circuit in 2018. Such was its initial success, the event was named the best of that year with another action-packed weekend, which included Marc Marquez sealing a memorable world championship win, taking place in 2019.
Held five hours’ drive from the capital city Bangkok, the stop-start 4.6km track combines long straights and slow hairpins. Drama is a regular fixture here with many gamers coming undone at the tricky turns 3, 5 and 12.
Due to it being located on the tropics, weather in Thailand can often play a factor. Torrential rainstorms are a daily occurrence and certain points during the year, and that is the case here, as gamers must showcase their skills on a wet track.
The first two sectors of the track demand fine accelerating skills and top outright speed. Fortunately, Dovizioso’s Ducati has plenty of that. But beware, only those with the very best skills will be able to manoeuvre the Desmosedici around the tighter parts of the track.
It starts with the run to turn one. Nail your braking marker and shift down to second before opening up and tucking in on the long run down to turn three. A tight hairpin needs to be treated with care. Get the braking just right for corner entry and shift down from sixth to first and hit an early apex. Make sure you pick the bike up nice and early before accelerating down to the fast turn four, taken in third gear.
From there hold the gear until the tight turn five. Trail brake all the way into the apex and shift back down to first.
Then it gets tough! Smoothly switch right and use second or third gear for the next three bends, turns seven, eight and nine. Be patient with the throttle through turn ten, making sure you have the correct line for the short dash through eleven and down to the extremely tight turn twelve. Shift back to first gear and hit the apex for the perfect entry and exit.
2020 MotoGP™ eSport Championship finalists will enjoy wet weather conditions as they seek to add points to the board in the first Online Challenge.
The challenge runs from the 19th to the 22nd of March. When competing in each Online Challenge, gamers will be classified in one of two categories: those from Europe and those from the Rest of the World. The gamers setting the fastest times will be awarded points. At the end of the third Online Challenge the 16 gamers with the most points in the European classification and the six from the Rest of the World classification will make up the 22 riders that qualify for the Draft Selection with 11 of those guaranteed a spot in the Global Series!