The finale of the 2019 MotoGP™ eSport Championship got off to a stunning start at the #ValenciaGP as a tight qualifying session for the penultimate race of the year saw less than one second cover the entire field!
Tensions are running high at the high-stakes final round as just seven points separate the championship’s top three – AndrewZh, trastevere73 and Cristianmm17 – with just two races remaining. All three were represented in the top five during qualifying at the stunning Phillip Island Circuit, which hosts the first of Friday’s two races.
Thanks to a strong late run, reigning eSport Champion trastevere73 claimed his second pole position of the year, lapping the picturesque 2.7-mile track 0.123s faster than and Team Suzuki ECSTAR’s adrianDP26. trastevere73, who competes for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP and sits 4 points back of the current championship leader, jumped to the top of the standings with one minute to play. The Italian’s mood will be helped by the fact each of this season’s four races have been won by the gamer starting from pole position.
If qualifying is a sign of things to come, viewers will be treated to a stunning first race on Friday. With two minutes to play, just 0.001s separated the two fastest riders while 0.07s covered the first five. As witnessed in September’s fourth race of the series at the #AragonGP, the victory battle is likely to go all the way to the last corner of the last lap.
Behind adrianDP26, current championship leader AndrewZh was a strong third, taking his Ducati Team Desmosedici GP19 to a place on the front row around a track that has not always been the kindest to Italian machinery in the past. Impressive rookie Wimp (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was fourth and Team Suzuki ECSTAR’s Cristianmm17, who sits third in the championship, 6 points back of the leader, was fifth. Both riders were less than two tenths of a second off pole position.
Remember to tune into the live show tomorrow (Friday 15th) at 18:30 CET, when popular presenting duo Gavin Emmett and Amy Dargan will host the two-hour event with commentary coming from Matt Dunn and Jack Appleyard.
Friday’s action will be available to watch live on the official championship websites motogp.com and esport.motogp.com, as well as across social media platforms including YouTube (via the MotoGP and MotoGP eSport channels), MotoGP eSport Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (via both the MotoGP and MotoGP eSport pages).
As well as digital coverage, as many as 15 selected TV networks will broadcast the last event of the season – with the finale currently set to be shown by DAZN in Spain, Sky in Italy, BT Sport in the UK, Trans7 in Indonesia, FOX Australia, ESPN across Spanish-speaking Latin America, Sony Sports India, OTE in Greece, MTV3 in Finland, RTBF in Belgium, Viasat across Scandinavia, RTS in Switzerland, SuperSport in South African, and Sportklub in Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. Red Bull will also broadcast the event on RedBull TV and Twitch.
Qualifying Results:
1st trastevere73: 1:22.935
2nd adrianDP26: 1:23.058 (+0.123)
3rd AndrewZh: 1:23.076 (+0.140)
4th Wimp: 1:23.109 (+0.173)
5th Cristianmm17: 1:23.128 (+0.193)
6th Juan_nh16: 1:23.333 (+0.398)
7th MrTftw: 1:23.345 (+0.410)
8th EleGhosT555: 1:23.378 (+0.443)
9th MOE: 1:23.394 (+0.458)
10th Rllorca: 1:23.658 (+0.722)
11th XxBoMbeR_45xX: 1:23.687 (+0.751)
12th Mereja: 1:23.914 (+0.978)
