After a high-octane opening to the MotoGP™ eSport Global Series in June, the Rising Stars Series is set to kick off this week as the gaming stars of tomorrow put their skills to the test!
Just as Dorna’s junior racing programmes (the Red Bull Rookies Cup, the FIM Junior World Championship, Asia Talent Cup, the British Talent Cup, the Northern Talent Cup) aim to promote young talent to the pinnacle of the sport, the Rising Stars Series aims to do the same in the rapidly growing eSports world.
This programme has already born results. Of the eleven riders competing in this year’s MotoGP™ eSport Global Series, one - PieroRicciuti55 – first came to the world’s attention in the inaugural running of the Rising Stars Series. 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.
This year, the Rising Stars Series will consist of four Online Challenges separated by three World Regions (the Americas, Europe and Africa, Asia and Oceania) as well as three Online Regional Finals, with one per region.
The Rising Stars series kicks off this week and the prizes on offer are huge, including a guaranteed place in the 2022 MotoGP™ eSport Championship Pro Draft. 2021 MotoGP™ eSport Official Riders will not be able to compete in the Rising Stars Championship.
Authentication Process
Before participating in any of the qualifying events, you must be enrolled to compete in the Rising Stars Series. To start your journey to the top, register or login with your esport.motogp.com account or register a new one and be sure to accept the 2021 Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and Terms of Participation.
The Championship Format
The Rising Stars Series is comprised of two phases: the Online Regional Challenges and Online Regional Finals.
First of all, the Online Regional Challenges (Qualifiers) will be disputed in time attack mode and the gamers who achieve the fastest lap times will be awarded points. Only the fastest lap times will count and gamers will be awarded points depending on their position in the final classification at the end of each Challenge.
The four Challenges will run from July to August, with gamers tasked with posting the quickest lap times at four different layouts with four different machines. All the information on the calendar can be checked here.
Gamers will be divided into three categories, depending on their location. These three are the Americas, Europe and Africa, and finally Asia and Oceania.
Similar to this year’s MotoGP eSports Pro Draft, the eleven players who have the most points after the fourth and final Challenge will be classified for the Online Regional Finals.
There will be eleven qualifiers per region, meaning a total of 33 gamers will be classified for the Online Regional Finals (11 from the Americas, 11 from Europe and Africa, 11 from Asia and Oceania).
The Online Regional Finals will comprise of just one race for each region with eleven gamers in each race. The Online Regional Finals will be online based and disputed on the PC. These three races will be held on different circuits from the initial 2021 MotoGP calendar.
The winners of the Online Regional Finals (1 race per region) will be awarded with a place in the 2022 MotoGP™ eSport Pro Draft.
