The 2022 MotoGP™ eSport Global Series is up and running after the twelve finalists completed qualifying sessions for the opening two races of the season.
The highly-anticipated season opener comes from the spectacular Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, where the twelve finalists will compete during the Italian Grand Prix, one of the jewels on the MotoGP™ calendar.
The twelve gamers, hailing from Australia, the UK, Indonesia, Italy and Spain, made it through the Pro Draft and Draft Selection phases and have been chosen by the MotoGP™ teams to represent them in the prestigious five-round series.
Round one really puts the skillset of each finalist to the test, with round one comprising of two races on Friday 27th May. The first pits the twelve hopefuls against one another on the tight and twisty Sachsenring circuit in wet conditions. The second couldn’t be a bigger contrast: the fast, flowing Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello in dry conditions will be the scene of race two.
Qualifying for race one was dramatic as AndreaSaveri11 eventually took his first pole position as a rider for Suzuki ECSTAR. The Italian left it late during a final flurry of improvements to claim a pole which initially wasn’t recognised due to a technical issue. Yet after a quick check by Race Direction, it was decided his time of 1’22.964 was perfectly valid.
AndreaSaveri11’s late effort denied the Honda duo of adriaan_26 (Repsol Honda) and Cristianmm17 (LCR Honda CASTROL eSports Team) of a famous Honda 1-2. Instead, the Spanish brothers will line up second and third for tomorrow’s first race.
The second session was even tighter. AndreaSaveri11 once again bagged pole around Mugello’s rapid curves with reigning MotoGP™ eSport Champion Trast73 (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) second, just 0.018s back. PieroRicciuti55, the new signing of Ducati Lenovo eSport Team, was third, just 0.024s off the pole time. On this evidence, tomorrow’s races will be closer than ever!
Gavin Emmett will present the action-packed show tomorrow (Friday 27th May) at 19:00 (GMT +2). Jack Appleyard and Jack Gorst will be on commentary duties during an hour-long show, beginning with highlights of qualifying before the twelve finalists take on the two races. Friday’s action will be available to watch live on selected TV broadcasters, motogp.com, esport.motogp.com, and across a wide range of social media platforms including YouTube (via the MotoGP™ and MotoGP™ eSport channels), Twitter, Instagram, Facebook (via MotoGP™ and MotoGP™ eSport pages) and Twitch via MotoGP™ and MotoGP™ eSport.
Qualifying results for Race 1:
1. AndreaSaveri11, 1’22.964
2. adriaan_26, 1’23.236
3. Cristianmm17, 1’23.323
4. Jack Hammer4658, 1’23.426
5. trast73, 1’23.465
6. PieroRicciuti55, 1’23.474
7. Vindex813, 1’23.860
8. Davidegallina23, 1’23.953
9. DarkBright, 1’24.010
10. Sbadalongo, 1’24.193
11. TateeGo_51, 1’25.027
12. MrTftw, NC
Qualifying results for Race 2:
1. AndreaSaveri11, 1’41.832
2. trast73, 1’41.850 +0.018
3. PieroRicciuti55, 1’41.856 +0.024
4. Cristianmm17, 1’42.054 +0.222
5. Davidegallina23, 1’42.067 +0.235
6. Jack Hammer4658, 1’42.108 +0.276
7. Vindex813, 1’42.186 +0.354
8. Dark Bright, 1’42.479 +0.647
9. adriaan_26, 1’42.628 +0.796
10. Sbadalongo, 1’42.859 +1.027
11. MrTftw, 1’42.934 +1.102
12. TateeGo_51, 1’43.338 +1.506