FIM Enel MotoE World Cup Test
Jerez, Spain
November 23, 2018
Day One Results (all using Energica Ego Corsa electric motorcycles and Michelin tires):
1. Niki Tuuli, Finland, 1:51.721
2. Eric Granado, Brazil, 1:51.842
3. Randy De Puniet, France, 1:51.906
4. Bradley Smith, UK, 1:52.339
5. Alex De Angelis, San Marino, 1:52.403
6. Mike Di Meglio, France, 1:52.574
7. Jesko Raffin, Switzerland, 1:52.675
8. Lorenzo Savadori, Italy, 1:52.689
9. Sete Gibernau, Spain, 1:52.817
10. Matteo Casadei, Italy, 1:53.629
11. Niccolo Canepa, Italy, 1:53.959
12. Nicolas Terol, Spain, 1:54.192
13. Kenny Foray, France, 1:54.413
14. Josh Hook, Australia, 1:55.731
15. Matteo Ferrari, Italy, 1:58.314
16. Maria Herrera, Spain, 2:00.562
17. Julian Miralles, Spain, 2:06.002
18. Luca Vitali, Italy, 2:06.560
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Testing for the new FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup begins in southern Spain – with Tuuli fastest
Preparations for the inaugural FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup have begun at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto and it was former WorldSSP podium finisher and Moto2™ rider Niki Tuuli (Ajo Motorsport MotoE) who topped the times on Day 1 of three, setting a quickest time of 1:51.721. Laptimes tumbled dramatically after the first runs, and by the end of play the Finn’s time was enough to beat 2017 European Moto2™ Champion Eric Granado (Esponsorama Racing) by 0.121, with former Grand Prix rider Randy de Puniet (LCR E-Team) completing the top three.
That makes a pretty tight top trio after only a few sessions – the test is shared with Moto2™ – with only 0.185 splitting them. And next up on the timesheets was Bradley Smith (One Energy Racing), the British rider 0.618 off the top, with Alex De Angelis (Alma Pramac Racing) then just 0.064 behind Smith in P5. The much anticipated return of former MotoGP™ frontrunner Sete Gibernau, meanwhile, saw him impressively hit the ground running – only just over a second off the top.
It’s not just laptimes that were the focus of the day, however. With teams and riders settling in to the new category, first contact and experience is key to getting up to speed ready for the start of the season – including the tyres. Specially designed, the front tyres are a derivative of MotoGP™ tyres but the rears have more of a Superbike background. The fronts need to support the bike under braking, whereas the rears need to warm up quickly for the shorter race distances in the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup. With the different characteristics of each, that made it something very new for each rider out on track – regardless of their racing experience.
So that’s Day 1 and first contact completed, with Tuuli in charge so far. Now there’s another day of testing on Saturday before a third on Sunday, so make sure to stay up to date and see how laptimes drop further and the teams settle in to the new category.