The first round of the MotoGP™ eSport Championship Global Series kicks off today. Dorna Sports’ eSport projects continue going from strength to grow in 2021 with a Talent Promotion programme, the Rising Stars Series, as well as a the the MotoGP™ eSport Indonesian Series backing up the main event. And the 2021 MotoGP™ eSport Championship has been running since March, whittling down thousands of young hopefuls in the Online Challenges to the final 11 now set to race it out for the crown in the four-round Global Series.
The slickly produced format of the dramatic Global Series showdowns – aired by 16 broadcasters across the globe –resulted in MotoGP™’s version of eSport being nominated for the prestigious Sports Technology Awards in 2020, in the ‘Use of Esports by a Sports Brand’ category.
So how did we get here? A total of 25 gamers (16 from Europe, 6 from the Rest of the World and the winners from the 3 Regional Finals in last year’s WINDTRE Rising Stars series) were entered into the Draft Selection phase, with that then whittled down to the 11 riders who have been chosen by the MotoGP™ teams as their competitors in the Global Series. The 11 hail from Australia, the UK, Indonesia, Italy and Spain, and each rider was selected after some stellar time-attack performances in the Online Challenges – creating an incredibly strong Global Series entry list.
Presenters Jack Appleyard and Jack Gorst will host the hour-long show, which will begin with highlights of qualifying before the 11 riders take on two races. The first one will be held on the Algarve International Circuit and the second one will be on the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello. The riders will be playing on the new official MotoGP™21 Videogame from videogame developer, publisher and longstanding partner Milestone – which is available to buy now – with race direction and the event powered by Lenovo Legion PCs. The points system for Round 1 will mirror the MotoGP™ World Championship, with 25 points for a win.
Fans can watch on motogp.com and esport.motogp.com, on selected TV broadcasters, 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.
Who will start their campaign on top? Find out on Friday the 11th of June at 16:00 (GMT +2) as the 2021 MotoGP™ eSport Championship Global Series gets in gear!