TRASTEVERE73 was in unstoppable form on the Ducati Team machine as he took victory in Semi Final 2 of the MotoGP™ eSport Championship to covert pole position into the race win around MotorLand Aragon. Second place was PAUL_IG7 on board the LCR Honda bike, the Spaniard 1.4 seconds off the win with Repsol Honda Team’s XXBOMBER_45XX completing the top three.
The race started in dramatic fashion as four riders went down at the tight left handed first corner, with QP NOVA QP, MOTERO_1, RICK_MOTOGP_35 and IVAN_AVELLA all giving themselves work to do if they were to reach an all-important top six position. However, getting a great launch from P1 on the grid, there were no such troubles for TRASTEVERE73 as he and PAUL_IG7 took off at the front.
XXBOMBER_45XX had settled into P3 but behind him, the battle raged for the final three qualification spots, with Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s VINDEX813 claiming P6 – but MOE on board his Aprilia Racing Team Gresini bike was looking menacing just 0.1 adrift. However, disaster then struck for the Indonesian rider on Lap 4 as he crashed twice, all-but ending his hopes of qualifying for the Grand Final.
Up front, TRASTEVERE73 had created a 0.7 gap but then more drama hit lower down the order as fifth placed JUAN_NH16 crashed his EG 0,0 Marc VDS machine at half race distance, lifting LCR Honda’s RLLORCA26 into the top six. On Lap 7 there was 1.1 seconds covering the Spaniard from early faller QP NOVA QP, with this soon becoming the battle everyone had their eyes fixed on.
QP NOVA QP had his target firmly set as he cut RLLORCA26’s advantage down to 0.5 with two laps to go and on the final lap there was nothing between the duo. However, the Frenchman’s late charge would come to no avail as RLLORCA26 held on to that final qualifying place by just over a tenth as they took the chequered flag.
Further up the road and it was reigning Champion TRASTEVERE73 who ran out comfortable winner, with PAUL_IG7 1.4 seconds back in a fantastic P2. P3 went the way of XXBOMBER_45XX, a brilliant ride from the Spaniard, with Team Ecstar Suzuki’s DAVIDEGALLINA23 crossing the line in fourth. He led fellow Italian VINDEX813 over the line by under half a second, the latter sealing P5 at MotorLand Aragon on his Movistar Yamaha MotoGP bike, with the aforementioned RLLORCA26 taking the final top six spot.
So who missed out? Well, it was heartbreak for QP NOVA QP as his early crash ultimately cost him a top six finish in P7, with the same being said for both RICK_MOTOGP_35 and IVAN_AVELLA – P8 and P9 respectively, with the former finishing less than a second off a qualification slot. P10 went to JUAN_NH16, a late crash ending his hopes of a top six onslaught, with MOTERO_1 and MOE completing the results.
And there we have it, a fantastic Semi Final 2 encounter at the Movistar eSports Center in Madrid gives us six more Grand Finalists. Valencia now awaits the 12 competitors, who will compete for glory alongside the final MotoGP™ round of the season. Make sure you tune in for what promises to be a sensational battle for the 2018 MotoGP™ eSports Championship crown.
