The Red Bull Virtual Grand Prix of Spain: everything you need to know
The cause, the line-up, the format and more – here’s a full rundown of what awaits MotoGP™ fans on Sunday
Monday, 27 April 2020
MotoGP™’s first ever Virtual Races were an incredible success, providing some much needed Sunday afternoon adrenaline for many in the MotoGP™ community. Subsequently, Dorna Sports then announced an exciting world first: the Red Bull Virtual Grand Prix of Spain. The event is in aid of the official charity of MotoGP™, Two Wheels for Life, and will be broadcast at 3pm (GMT +2) on Sunday the 3rd of May – with all three Grand Prix classes will racing it out on the eSport stage for the first time ever.
In partnership with Dorna Sports, Two Wheels for Life have launched a new campaign with a 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 and other dangerous diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Find out more and donate HERE, with donations open NOW until a week after the event.
The line-ups for the Red Bull Virtual Grand Prix of Spain are certainly star studded as the sport shows its support. The MotoGP™ grid will be 11 riders and they’ll compete over 13 laps – the equivalent of 50% of race distance – whilst the Moto2™ and Moto3™ grids both comprise 10 riders competing over eight laps, which is 35% of race distance. In addition, for the first time since its release on the 23rd of April, the riders will now be playing on the new official MotoGP™20 Videogame from videogame developer, publisher and longstanding partner Milestone.
This time, highlights from qualifying will be shown before the three races, with those sessions set to decide the grid before the broadcast. The order will follow a normal Grand Prix weekend as Moto3™ race first, followed by Moto2™, before MotoGP™ take to the stage thereafter. Fans can watch the whole show from 3pm on motogp.com and esport.motogp.com, on selected TV broadcasters, and 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).
Broadcast partners showing coverage of the event will include Sky Italy, Canal+ in France, DAZN (in Spain, Italy and DACHS), BT Sport in the UK, ServusTV in Austria and Germany, Viasat in Sweden, NBC in the USA, Fox Brazil and ESPN in Latin America, Motorsport TV Russia, Eurosport India, Fox Asia, Fox Australia, TEN, and SuperSport across Africa.
After the Red Bull Virtual Grand Prix of Spain, there will also be a post-race Press Conference for each class on MotoGP™’s Instagram! These will take place after the event, LIVE: MotoGP™ at 17:00, Moto2™ at 17:30 and Moto3™ at 18:00.
The MotoGP™ line-up:
Repsol Honda Team: Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez
Ducati Team: Danilo Petrucci
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP: Maverick Viñales
Team Suzuki Ecstar: Alex Rins
Petronas Yamaha SRT: Fabio Quartararo
Pramac Racing: Francesco Bagnaia
Reale Avintia Racing: Tito Rabat
Red Bull KTM Tech 3*: Miguel Oliveira, Iker Lecuona
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini: Lorenzo Savadori
*Red Bull KTM Factory Racing cede their place on the grid to Red Bull KTM Tech 3
LCR Honda Idemitsu rider Takaaki Nakagami is unable to take part due to MotoGP™20 availability in his region. LCR Honda Castrol rider Cal Crutchlow is unable to take part in virtual races.
The Moto2™ line-up:
Red Bull KTM Ajo: Jorge Martin
Flexbox HP 40: Lorenzo Baldassarri
Italtrans Racing Team: Enea Bastianini
American Racing: Marcos Ramirez
Beta Tools Speed Up: Jorge Navarro
Liqui Moly Intact GP: Marcel Schrötter
Aspar Team: Aron Canet
Petronas Sprinta Racing: Jake Dixon
NTS RW Racing GP: Bo Bendsneyder
Sky Racing Team VR46: Luca Marini
The Moto3™ line-up:
Aspar Team Gaviota: Albert Arenas
Leopard Racing: Dennis Foggia
SIC58 Squadra Corse: Niccolo Antonelli
Kömmerling Gresini Moto3: Gabriel Rodrigo
Rivacold Snipers Team: Tony Arbolino
Red Bull KTM Ajo: Raul Fernandez
Estrella Galicia 0,0: Sergio Garcia
Red Bull KTM Tech 3: Deniz Öncü
Sterilgarda Max Racing Team: Alonso Lopez
BOE Skull Rider Facile Energy: Ricardo Rossi
Keep up to date with everything across social media platforms as Red Bull Virtual Grand Prix of Spain gets ready to go racing on Sunday the 3rd of May at 15:00 (GMT+2) – and don’t forget to tune in for the post-race Press Conferences on Instagram after the event!
