MotoE France: Good operation for Aegerter, who takes the reins of the championship

Dominique Aegerter leaves Le Mans with the status of leader of the MotoE championship, after obtaining a solid overall result in Sarthe.

The success achieved two weeks ago in Jerez by Eric Granado at the opening of the electric motorcycle world championship could give rise to fears of a solo rider from the Brazilian this season, but it is clear that this will probably not be the case!

However, Granado won in France last year, which augured a good performance from him this weekend, especially since with 17 points ahead of his closest pursuer in the provisional ranking, Dominique Aegerter, the South American was not really under pressure.

Casadei flies through qualifying

But Granado was ultimately discreet all weekend in the Bugatti, leaving free rein to his Swiss opponent, as well as to others, and in particular to Mattia Casadei, who shone from FP1 with the best time. The Italian driver subsequently achieved a real performance in qualifying, when deprived of even the slightest time due to a fall during the second free practice session, he had to go through Q1.

 

 

Ultimately, the best time at the end of both the first and second part of qualifying (a first in the category, which adopted this new qualifying format, modeled on that of MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 ), and therefore a well-deserved E-Pole, obtained by the smallest of margins, namely a thousandth ahead of Aegerter! Kevin Zannoni took third place on the grid, while on the second row we found Granado ahead of double title holder Jordi Torres and the Japanese Hikari Okubo.

 

French MotoE GP – The grid:

Fibula fracture for Torres

This promised thrilling races at Le Mans. The start of the first of the two events, eight laps long, thus gave rise to a dramatic turn of events with the fall of Torres, who was run over by Niccolò Canepa and Xavi Forés.

The Spaniard subsequently had to withdraw from the second event, having been diagnosed with a fracture of his left fibula. Very bad news which seriously compromises its chances of a third consecutive title this season, while participation in the next one, scheduled in two weeks in Italy, seems improbable.

Ahead, the fight for victory in this first race came down to a duel between Casadei and Zannoni, the first city managing to repel all the attacks of its transalpine compatriot, until the latter made a mistake by losing the front in the penultimate corner and cedes second place to Aegerter. The podium of this Race 1 was completed by Okubo, author of a very good performance and who achieved his first top 3 in the category.

 

French MotoE GP – Race 1:

Aegerter overcomes Casadei in Race 2

Race 2 was also decided in the last lap, but this time Casadei did not manage to repel the attacks of Aegerter, the Helvetian who managed to find the opening in the very last lap , at turn 3 at the Dunlop chicane, to sign his first success of the season in front of the Italian, Canepa crossing the finish line in third position, which also constitutes his first podium in the category.

Aegerter, 2021 Supersport World Champion, and who had already played the leading roles last year in MotoE, was therefore able to demonstrate pugnacity after a failed start which forced him to lead a daring comeback.

 

 

It was worth it since the Swiss is now in first place in the world championship, with 78 points, compared to 70 for Granado. The Brazilian could not do better than seventh in the first event and fifth in the second, but saved the furniture and remains in the running in the fight for the title. The other strong man of the weekend, Casadei, occupies third place overall with 61 units.

 

French MotoE GP – Race 2:

The third round of MotoE will take place in two weeks, in Tuscany on the Mugello circuit, and promises more great fights in a championship which definitely does not lack suspense.

MotoE – Championship standings:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com