MotoE #GermanGP – Sachsenring
Race 1
Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) took a stunning victory at the Sachsenring in Race 1 after a dramatic . Polesitter Torres lost out at the start but a series of incredible overtakes and then late drama meant he took victory. Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) claimed his best MotoE™ result with second, while Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) was ultimately classified third after a penalty for rookie Nicholas Spinelli (HP Pons Los40).
The lights went out for Race 1 and rookie Spinelli took the lead into Turn 1, but he soon relinquished that on Lap 2 when Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) came past in search of his first MotoE™ win. Garzo’s pace meant he was able to set a new race lap record on the second lap, with a 1:27.914, before the race pace across the field slowed down. The Spaniard was unable to pull away from the chasing pack as polesitter Torres kept the pressure on, although he found himself dropping down the order in the early stages.
Mugello Race 2 winner Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) moved into the podium places as he passed Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) with an unconventional but effective move at Turn 2 on Lap 5 before he set his sights on Torres up ahead. A lap later and Granado was through on the two-time World Cup winner at Turn 12; a move he repeated on Lap 7 on Garzo to move into the lead. Granado’s lead lasted just a couple of laps as Torres, who had battled back into the lead fight, came by on Lap 9 at Turn 12 to take the lead.
The drama continued at the start of the final lap. Both Granado and Garzo crashed at Turn 1, in separate incidents, with Granado attempting to re-take the lead when he lost the front of his Ducati machine while Garzo went down after contact with Spinelli. The incident was placed under investigation by the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards with Spinelli given a three-second penalty, the equivalent of a Long Lap Penalty. The incident itself saw Krummenacher take over in second and Spinelli third initially, but the Italian dropped to sixth once the penalty was applied. That puts Ferrari into third, and given the Italian had started tenth after he was disqualified from Q2 for a technical infringement, it was a first job of the day well done.
Ferrari was three tenths clear of Alessandro Zaccone (Tech3 E-racing) in fourth, the Italian back into the front echelons as he gains experience on the new Ducati and returns from Moto2™. Zaccone had a two-second margin over Casadei in fifth. Spinelli was sixth with his penalty, finishing ahead of Tito Rabat (Prettl Pramac MotoE™) in eighth as the Spaniard made gains. Mugello Race 1 victor Andrea Mantovani (RNF MotoE Team) was ninth with Hikari Okubo (Tech3 E-racing) rounding out the top ten.
Race 2
Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) secured his first MotoE™ win in dramatic circumstances in a shortened Race 2, the Spaniard making a sensational overtake on Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) and Jordi Torres(Openbank Aspar Team) on Lap 6 to claim victory before the red flag came out due to rain, with Casadei and Torres completing the podium.
Garzo got the holeshot as he looked to respond from his Race 1 disappointment, where he was taken out of the race while fighting in the podium places. On Lap 3 though, the tension was high as drops of rain were falling around the circuit and Race 1 winner Torres made his move for the lead on the same lap, up the inside of Garzo at Turn 12. His lead didn’t last long though as Casadei went from third to first at Turn 1 on Lap 4.
On Lap 5, the pair switched positions twice. Torres initially re-took the lead at Turn 12 before Casadei responded immediately at Turn 13. Just one lap later and Garzo had moved back into first as he pulled off the exact same move Casadei did at Turn 1 to overtake the Italian and Torres. It turned out to be the race-winning move as red flags were shown on Lap 7 due to weather conditions worsening. Garzo, Casadei and Torres therefore finish on the Race 2 podium in Germany with just 0.368s separating the trio.
Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) took fourth place, missing out on a podium by just 0.025s as the field bunched up while the rain came down, but it’s solid points for the Brazilian after his Rae 1 crash. Nicholas Spinelli (HP Pons Los40) finished fifth on take two, with Randy Krummenacher (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) in sixth and Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE™) just behind the Swiss rider in seventh. Just 0.857s separated the top seven when the red flags were shown.
Japanese rider Hikari Okubo (Tech3 E-racing) secured eighth place with teammate Alessandro Zaccone in ninth as Mugello Race 1 winner Andrea Mantovani (RNF MotoE™Team) rounded out the top ten.
Source: motogp.com