Why entertainment isn't Esports' greatest virtue right now

Esports. Whether you understand it or not, it has become the primary source of sporting action now as the coronavirus pandemic has forced the world into a global lockdown. Formula 1, MotoGP, IndyCar, NASCAR, WEC, DTM, World Superbikes, all national racing in the UK to name but a very few have all had their 2020 campaigns delayed indefinitely.

Sport is humanity's great escape: something we all look forward to around the everyday grind of life. In times of crisis, it's needed more than ever, but is tragically - and sensibly - out of bounds for the time being.

Motorsport's already founded Esports platform offered up a chance to fill the void and give people an escape, with F1, IndyCar, NASCAR and Supercars all launching their own official online series - to varying degrees of success.

MotoGP was the latest series to set up its own Esports event with the #StayAtHomeGP at the virtual Mugello circuit, played on the Milestone-developed MotoGP 19.

Unlike F1's Bahrain Virtual Grand Prix, whose current F1 star power was limited to obsessed gaming fan Lando Norris and Esports novice Nicholas Latifi, MotoGP managed to assemble 10 of its 2020 stars - including reigning six-time world champion Marc Marquez and his suspected season rivals in Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo.

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi was initially on the bill, but his participation was withdrawn. No reason has been given yet.

The five-minute qualifying/six-lap race format wasn't exactly a huge portion of racing action for one to amuse themselves with on a Sunday afternoon, but the high entertainment value went some way to making up for that. The skill level of each rider was massively mismatched, which meant the event was a hilariously crash-strewn affair - a result of amassing a group of ultra-competitive riders in a no-consequence situation.

Honda rookie and reigning Moto2 world champion Alex Marquez won the race, fending off an avid gamer in Francesco Bagnaia on the Pramac Ducati in the early stages before darting off to a seven-second margin at the chequered flag.

A real-life tangle between Quartararo and Vinales would surely have made Sunday's debriefs much more fiery, and set up an enthralling sub-plot for the following rounds

Behind, chaos ensued, with future Yamaha team-mates Quartararo and Vinales wiping each other out at the first turn on the opening lap, while Marc Marquez found himself on the (virtual) deck on the third lap having only played the game for two days prior.

The whole event was complemented by all of the riders being able to voice chat in the online lobby. The relaxed nature of their banter was juxtaposed with the steely focus each one had on their face during the race - even with nothing on the line, racing to win is a hard trait to turn off.

Some will likely bemoan the lack of Esports talent present. After all, MotoGP does have its own Esports championship it devotes a lot of resources to. But watching 10 of the premier class's best in a more relaxed environment was far more fun.

However, while watching some of the accidents and on-track action unfold, it was hard to shake a feeling of sadness. MotoGP's pre-season testing has set up a finely-balanced championship fight, with the grid set to be as close as it ever has in grand prix motorcycle racing's 70-year history. Yet, as each week passes and another race gets postponed, the season feels like it's slipping further out of reach and the questions asked at the end of testing will go unanswered.

Sunday's #StayAtHomeGP gave us virtual glimpses at what may have been the headlines after the first handful of races. Quartararo guiding his Petronas SRT Yamaha to pole wasn't an uncommon sight in his sensational rookie season in 2019, and he'll be a hard rider to beat on Saturdays this year. A cut above the rest in Sunday's Esports qualifying, off the line he was matched by the works Yamaha of Vinales.

Quartararo crashing at the first corner and wiping out a helpless Vinales is an all too real possibility in reality, as both strive to end Marquez and Honda's stranglehold on the series, while also drawing the battle lines for when the pair team up at Yamaha in 2021. A real-life tangle between the two would surely have made Sunday's debriefs much more fiery, and set up an enthralling sub-plot for the following rounds.

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Then there was the elder Marquez. His lack of experience on MotoGP 19 meant he took the race steady, keeping upright and out of trouble until he crashed.

With Honda enduring a tough pre-season with its '20-spec RC213V - its new aerodynamic package only found to be the cause of the bike's horrific cornering on the last day of the Qatar test - and Marquez still recovering from an off-season shoulder operation, his early races would likely have mirrored his Mugello Esports outing: riding within himself with the cards stacked against him, and hoping to profit from chaos around him.

By the time we do go racing again, Marquez will be fully healed and any advantage his rivals would have had in that respect will have evaporated. With the Honda, which has improved in certain areas over its predecessor, now handling more like the '19 bike - still a difficult beast as Jorge Lorenzo will attest, but manageable in Marquez's hands as displayed by his ruthless tally of 18 top two finishes out of 19 starts - he will be harder to beat again.

Alex Rins' epic retaliatory move on an aggressive Quartararo at the Biondetti Esses on lap four (reminiscent of Lorenzo's move on Marquez at the same corner in their titanic 2016 Mugello battle) also reminded us of Suzuki's gains over the winter and its new position as a season-long threat with both Rins and Joan Mir.

For now, we only have imagination to wonder just what MotoGP would look like right now had racing been underway for real.

So long as people are tuning in at home, they are staying safe

But this is where Esports is perhaps at its most beneficial. Alex Marquez said prior to Sunday that it was MotoGP's "responsibility" to keep people indoors and self-isolating for their own safety and, more importantly, that of others through the #StayAtHomeGP event.

So long as people are tuning in at home, they are staying safe. And ultimately that longing for real racing to return will only heighten as they watch a virtual contest unfold in front of them.

Crucially, it will ensure they commit to adhering to worldwide government advice on social distancing. Because the sooner we all get on the same page, the sooner COVID-19 disappears and the sooner we all get to go racing for real again.