The third and final stage of the 2020 MotoGP™ eSport Championship is already underway with gamers around the world taking on the daunting Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas aboard Marc Marquez’s fearsome Repsol Honda Team RC213V from Thursday the 2nd April.
The Pro Draft leaderboards are incredibly tight and with only this Challenge remaining, now is the final chance for gamers to book a place in the prestigious and all-important Global Series.
MotoGP™ made its debut in Texas in 2013 and from then Austin has become a shrine for American bike fans, who make the journey across the country to soak up a unique atmosphere while watching their heroes out on track.
The Circuit of the Americas is probably the most challenging layout on the entire calendar. Its 20 corners take time to learn and master with the fast, flowing first section a contrast to the stop-start sector three. More than anywhere, here is all about circuit knowledge as well as all-round ability.
And in Marc Marquez and his Repsol Honda RC213V, gamers will have the package that has taken all-but-one victory at this event since 2013. It was at this race’s inaugural running that the precocious Spaniard secured his first premier class victory, becoming – at 20 years and 63 days – the youngest rider in history to win a MotoGP™ race.
From there, this anti-clockwise layout has become a banker for Marquez. Each of his wins in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 were strolls in the park, and only an uncharacteristic crash out of a comfortable lead denied him yet another victory in the 2019 event.
One of its more distinctive features is near 41m-elevation change with an impressive incline at the end of the home-straight followed by a sharp left. The circuit is one of the most varied on the GP circuit, with a mix of fast straights and tight hairpins, with most sections mirroring at least some part of a famous track around the world.
To start with turn one is taken in first gear so heavy braking is required on the approach. Hit the apex and shift up to third gear for turn two, a right curve to be taken at mid-throttle. Then it gets complicated; switch between third and second from turns three to seven, making sure you brake early and never run off line.
Turn nine tightens so switch back to first when rounding the long turn eight. Square off turn nine before taking turn ten at full throttle before switching all the way back to first for turn eleven. Like turn one, hitting the apex is a requisite before gently applying the power and moving up to sixth gear.
Turn twelve is another tight, first gear corner. Be careful with your braking marker here as it’s so easy to overshoot here. It’s a short dash to turn 13. Shift up to third gear before dropping back to first, catching a late apex and accelerating smoothly through 14.
It’s so easy to tuck the front at turn 15 so be careful with front brake application – another slow hairpin to be taken in first. Then it’s up to third, holding mid-throttle through turns 16, 17 and 18, three bends to be taken as one. Then it’s back to second gear for the quick turn 19 left before another tight first-gear hairpin (turn 20) ends the lap.
The challenge runs from 2nd to 5th of April. When competing in each Online Challenge, gamers will be classified in one of two categories: those from Europe and those from the Rest of the World. The gamers setting the fastest times will be awarded points. At the end of the third Online Challenge the 16 gamers with the most points in the European classification and the six from the Rest of the World classification will make up the 22 riders that qualify for the Draft Selection with 11 of those guaranteed a spot in the Global Series!
