Back for a second season, the Rising Stars Series is gearing up for the Regional Finals that will determine who gets a shot at the 2022 MotoGP™ eSport Championship Global Series.
First started in 2020, this talent-spotting programme required young hopefuls around the world to tackle four Online Challenges in which Gamers are divided into three categories, depending on their location. These three are the Americas, Europe and Africa, and finally Asia and Oceania.
The stakes in the Regional Finals couldn’t be higher, with the winner in each category (the Americas, Asia and Oceania, Europe and Africa) receiving a guaranteed place in the MotoGP™ eSport Pro Draft Selection in 2022.
The third of the finals to take place will be for Europe and Africa, which takes place on Wednesday 20th October at 18.00 (GMT +2/BCN). The eleven finalists will take on the world-famous Le Mans Circuit in France. The event around the stop-and-go layout will be held over ten laps and decides which competitor prevails to win this final.
Three countries are represented among the eleven hopefuls that will face off, including Italy, Spain and the UK.
The Italian gamer Vindex813 will surely start the European-African heat as favourite after scoring 95 points from a possible 100 in the Online Challenges. He will line up for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP. He will likely face stiff competition from the British SacredMeerkat, whose performances in the Online Challenges – fifth overall – earned him a seat at LCR Honda Castrol eSports Team. The Italian AleGhido32 will also be a contender aboard the Suzuki Ecstar eSports Team.
Simone12aloe will likely figure among the leaders after impressive Online Challenge performances – sixth overall – got him a place with Petronas Yamaha SRT. Davidegallina23 is another Italian and former Global Series contender. He will be riding for Yahoo Pramac Racing. Italy’s EuPro-GP aka U-mastru21_EuPro will line up for Tech3 KTM Factory Racing, with simopiova26 aka Simone Piovanelli, also from Italy, representing Ducati Lenovo eSports Team. Italy’s Sbadalongo could be an outside bet for success with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, as could w1 aka Gh0sty, the Spaniard heading Repsol Honda’s entry. The Brit Sasse46 aka JOE4620_ could have a part to play with Avintia Esponsorama Racing, as could Italian Vampisch46CG98 aka gaetano corrado98, riding for the Aprilia Racing Esports Team.
The entry list for Europe & Africa Final race will be as follows:
(3) EuPro-GP aka U-mastru21_EuPro from Italy with Tech3 KTM Factory Racing
(4) Sbadalongo from Italy with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
(5) Sasse46 aka JOE4620_ from UK with Avintia Esponsorama Racing
(12) simone12aloe from Italy with Petronas Yamaha SRT
(18) Vindex813 from Italy with Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
(23) DavideGallina23 from Italy with Yahoo Pramac Racing
(26) simopiova26 aka Simone Piovanelli from Italy with Ducati Lenovo eSports Team
(27) w1 aka Gh0sty from Spain with Repsol Honda Team
(29) SacredMeerkat29 aka SacredMeerkat from UK with LCR Honda Castrol eSports Team
(32) AleGhido03 from Italy with Suzuki Ecstar eSports Team
(98) Vampisch46CG98 aka gaetano corrado98 from Italy with Aprilia Racing Esports Team.
Fans can watch on MotoGP™ Broadcasters, motogp.com and esport.motogp.com and across social media platforms including YouTube (via the MotoGP™ and MotoGP™ eSport channels), MotoGP™ eSport Twitter, Instagram, Facebook (via MotoGP™ and MotoGP™ eSport pages) and Twitch via MotoGP™ and MotoGP™ eSport.