The MotoGP™ eSport Championship continues to innovate in a variety of ways, with the Rising Stars Series, an eSport talent promotion initiative, returning for a second straight year in 2021.
After a running a series of Online Challenges in July separated into three World Regions the (Americas, Europe and Africa, Asia and Oceania), eleven young gaming hopefuls from each region have qualified for the finals.
The eleven players from each region with more points after the final Challenge are the ones classified for the Online Regional Finals. They comprise just one race for each region, with all eleven gamers in each race. They are online only, disputed on the PC and each will be held on different virtual circuits, with the winners of each Online Regional Final awarded a place in the 2022 MotoGPؑ™ eSport Pro Draft.
The virtual circuits selected for this season will be: Circuit of the Americas for the Americas Final, Chang International Circuit for the Asia and Oceania Final, and finally, Le Mans Circuit for the Europe and Africa Regional Final.
One season in, and the results already speak for themselves. Of the eleven riders competing in this year’s MotoGP™ eSport Global Series, one – PieroRicciuti55 – first came to the world’s attention in last year’s Rising Stars Series, and has climbed to MotoGP™ eSport’s blue riband event in a short period! As well as that, Vindex813, the winner of the European final of the last year’s Rising Stars Series, is Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s reserve rider for this year’s Global Series too.
The three finals are scheduled to take place this month. Eleven of the fastest gamers from the Americas region will contest their regional final on Wednesday 6th October at 18.00 (GMT -4), 00.00 (GMT +2).
The following week will see the Asia and Oceania final take place on Wednesday 13th October at 18.00 (GMT +7), 13.00 (GMT +2).
And the third week on October is when the third final, for the gamers in the Europe and Africa category to compete in their final on Wednesday 20th October at 18.00 (GMT +2).
Aimed at finding and fostering fresh eSport talent around the world, the Rising Stars Series mirrors Road to MotoGP™ initiatives out on track such as the Red Bull MotoGP™ Rookies Cup, the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup and more, as it seeks to promote young talent towards the pinnacle of the sport.
As ever, all three finals will be played on the official MotoGP™21 from videogame developer, publisher and longstanding partner Milestone.
Fans can watch the Rising Stars finals on motogp.com and esport.motogp.com, as well as across all the official MotoGP™ eSport social media platforms including YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, and Facebook.
