MotoE: Granado, Garzó and Tuuli on the podium of the first race simulation in Valencia

Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama) won the first 'race' in FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup history in Valencia, with riders lining up for a simulated race at the start of the final day of pre-season testing .

The Brazilian missed pole by just 0.025 against Héctor Garzó (Tech 3 E-Racing) Tuesday, but he defended well once the red lights went out and managed to overtake the Spaniard on the last lap. Héctor Garzó therefore took second place, with Niki Tuuli (Ajo MotoE), another rider who has shown consistent pace in practice so far, completing the podium a few tenths of a second further back.

Nico Terol (Openbank Angel Nieto Team) finished fourth and Matteo Ferrari (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) completes the top five. To note that Bradley Smith (ONE Energy Racing), best time on Tuesday, returned to Montmeló to take part in private tests with Aprilia Racing Team Gresini.

The riders then had the chance to have a final 30-minute practice session starting at 17:00 p.m., although it ended prematurely with a red flag due to crashes. Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Maria Herrera (Openbank Angel Nieto Team). Both drivers are OK. This session was the last chance to test before hitting the track at Sachsenring for the first round of the season, and it's Niki Tuuli who was the fastest with a time of 1'40.127, 0.486 less than that of Mattia Casadei, second. Héctor Garzó was third on the timesheets at the end of the third day, and Eric Granado, winner of the race simulation, was 0.533 behind Niki Tuuli, in fourth position. Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), 125 2008cc world champion, completed the top 5.

So that's it for Valencia and the winner Eric Granado returns home after winning an Energica Eva as a reward. The E-Paddock is now preparing for the Sachsenring, which will host the first round of the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup from July 5-7.

Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna: “ It was very good. From the beginning, what we wanted to do was race and I think we showed today that it was a real race, with all the drivers fighting. I spoke to them and they were very happy. And we are happy because I think it is a good way to start with this new energy source and to show that we can do with it what we have been doing since 1992. As with everything we do, it's very important, and MotoE™ is just another category. Everything we do is important to us, and we try to share with the spectators how good motorsport is.”