2020 in review: A landmark year for MotoGP eSport

From Virtual Races and Grands Prix to the fourth eSport Championship, the new WINDTRE Rising Stars series and more, this season was a landmark one.

The year began with racing on hold as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic obliged calendar changes, but the competition continued – virtually.

For the first time ever, MotoGP riders competed against each other online in 10 Virtual Races, including two full Grands Prix featuring MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 and MotoE.

64 riders from 48 different teams took part, including some of the sport’s biggest names such as Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), then-reigning champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), MotoGP Legend Jorge Lorenzo and newly-crowned 2020 MotoGP world champion Joan Mir.

The Red Bull Virtual Grand Prix of Spain was also more than a Virtual Grand Prix, as the riders did battle in aid of the official charity of MotoGP^TM, Two Wheels for Life, with the goal of raising funds for their vital work fighting coronavirus on two wheels – ensuring the delivery of test results, education and equipment to hard to reach communities to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Over the 10 races, the events accrued 12 million live video views and 52 million views overall, as well as 10 million interactions and 331 million impressions. 40 broadcasters showed the Virtual Races and Grands Prix across the world.

(By a special arrangement with Dorna Sports)