On the back of five highly successful years, the MotoGP™ eSport Championship continues to innovate in a variety of ways in 2021. After debuting last season, the Rising Stars Series, an eSport talent promotion initiative, returns for a second year and gets underway in July – played, as ever, on the official MotoGP™21 from videogame developer, publisher and longstanding partner Milestone.
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.
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 have 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.
Following on from last year, the programme consists of four Online Challenges separated into three World Regions (the Americas, Europe and Africa, Asia and Oceania), as well as three Online Regional Finals; one per region.
More info on the calendar here: https://esport.motogp.com/rising-stars/calendar
The series kicks off in July 1st and there are three guaranteed places in the 2022 MotoGP™ eSport Championship Pro Draft up for grabs. To give an extra opportunity for the young talents, 2021 MotoGP™ eSport Official Riders will not be able to compete in the Rising Stars Series.
The Rising Stars Series comprises two phases: the Online Regional Challenges and Online Regional Finals. Gamers will be divided into three categories, depending on their location: Americas, Europe and Africa, and finally, Asia and Oceania.
The Online Regional Challenges (Qualifiers) are disputed in time attack mode and run from June to August, with the gamers who achieve the fastest lap times awarded points. Only the fastest laps count and each Challenge is played on four different tracks with four different machines and riders.
The eleven players from each region who have the most points after the final Challenge will be classified for the Online Regional Finals. They comprise just one race for each region, with all eleven gamers in each race. Regional Finals will be online only, disputed on the PC and each will be held on different virtual circuits and as always with race direction and Finals powered by Lenovo Legion PCs. The winners of each Online Regional Final awarded a place in the 2022 MotoGPؑ™ eSport Pro Draft.
Stay tuned! More information is coming soon at 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
