After the success of the first two MotoGP Virtual Races in history in recent weeks, this Sunday, 3rd of May 2020 at 3:00 PM (Italian time), on the original date of the Spanish GP, the first Virtual Grand Prix will be held on the “digital” version of Jerez de la Frontera Circuit. This time, apart from the premier class, Moto2 and Moto3 riders will also take part in the event as they are also set to compete with the MotoGP 20 videogame.
The MotoGP grid will see 11 riders competing in the race that will be held on a 13-lap distance, the equivalent of 50% of the real Grand Prix race distance. Once again, Danilo Petrucci will defend the Ducati colours in the Virtual Race. The rider hailing from Umbria had already taken part in the Virtual Race 2 on the 12th April at the Austrian race track of the Red Bull Ring where he closed sixth after a challenging race full of twists and turns.
Also this time, the Virtual Grand Prix will be shown by the main television broadcasters around the world, and the race will also be available on the MotoGP and MotoGP eSport websites, and on their respective Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube pages.
Before each of the three races, which will follow the traditional order of a Grand Prix with MotoGP as the last to compete, highlights of the qualifying sessions will also be broadcasted.
Sky will guarantee the tv coverage of the Virtual Grand Prix of Spain in Italy, Canal + in France, DAZN (Spain, Italy and DACH), BT Sport in the UK, Servus TV in Austria and Germany, Viasat in Sweden. In America, it will be shown by NBC in the US, Fox in Brazil and ESPN in Latin America. In the East, apart from Fox Asia, Motorsport TV will broadcast the event in Russia, Eurosport in India. At the same time, in Australia, it will be visible on Fox Australia, Ten and in Africa on channel Supersport.
Video views of the Virtual Race 2 reached a total of 14 million online, that adds up to a total of 2.5 million of interactions reached by all the related content of the event and the 8.5 million of minutes of Virtual Race 2 content that were viewed by all the MotoGP fans around the world (Source: Dorna Sports).
Danilo Petrucci (Ducati #9)
“I am quite curious to see how this second Virtual Race will go for me. For the Virtual Grand Prix, we will race at Jerez, where we should have had to take part in the real Grand Prix this weekend. Compared to the Virtual Race 2, this time we will be playing with the new MotoGP 20 videogame. I am already training a bit with it these days, and it is truly realistic! In general, I am not a great videogame player, and maybe, this will be a disadvantage for me against the youngest riders, but I am happy to be able to participate and entertain all the fans that are waiting to see us on track soon.”
MotoGP Line-up
Repsol Honda: Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez
Ducati: Danilo Petrucci
Monster Energy Yamaha: Maverick Viñales
Team Suzuki: Alex Rins
Petronas Yamaha: Fabio Quartararo
Pramac Racing: Francesco Bagnaia
Reale Avintia Racing: Tito Rabat
Red Bull KTM Tech 3: Miguel Oliveira, Iker Lecuona
Aprilia Racing: Lorenzo Savadori