Editorial Note: The race was stopped prematurely by a red flag, and it was not restarted.
Enel FIM MotoE World Cup
Sachsenring, Germany
July 7, 2019
Race Results (all using Energica electric motorcycles and Michelin tires):
1. Niki Tuuli, Finland, 5 laps, Total Race Time 7:27.862
2. Bradley Smith, UK, -0.442 second
3. Mike Di Meglio, France, -0.567
4. Hector Garzo, Spain, -0.991
5. Matteo Ferrari, Italy, -2.095 seconds
6. Alex De Angelis, San Marino, -4.048
7. Xavier Simeon, Belgium, -4.304
8. Eric Granado, Brazil, -8.118
9. Sete Gibernau, Spain, -9.254
10. Nicolas Terol, Spain, -9.414
11. Mattia Casadei, Italy, -9.557
12. Niccolo Canepa, Italy, -9.674
13. Jesko Raffin, Switzerland, -9.828
14. Kenny Foray, France, -10.137
15. Josh Hook, Australia, -11.157
16. Maria Herrera, Spain, -18.192
17. Randy De Puniet, France, -24.808
18. Lorenzo Savadori, Italy, -1 lap, DNF, crash
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Tuuli takes first ever MotoE™ win after a tight battle at the top
The Finnish rider got the better of Bradley Smith and Mike Di Meglio in a stunning debut race for the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup
Niki Tuuli (Ajo MotoE) has taken the first ever win in the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup, converting the first E-Pole into victory as the Cup kicked off in style in Germany. A Red Flag on the penultimate lap brought the race to an early end but it was a stunning spectacle throughout, with Bradley Smith (One Energy Racing) taking second and Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) completing the podium.
It was Hector Garzo (Tech 3 E-Racing) who took the holeshot from second on the grid, with Smith up to his old MotoGP™ class tricks to get a stunning launch from P7 and move into second, round the outside of polesitter Tuuli. Garzo then headed wide and Smith took over in the lead, with Tuuli also a little off line and that letting Di Meglio through into third. Xavier Simeon (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) then picked the pocket of the Finn too, and the polesitter was down into fifth.
He soon set about hitting back, however, slicing through into fourth and then third as Di Meglio attacked Smith at the front, taking the lead. The trio were pulling away to make the fight for the podium a three-way affair, leaving Garzo battling Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) for fourth and Alex de Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE) defending from Simeon.
With six to go, Smith struck back for the lead and it wasn’t long until Tuuli moved through too, tagged onto the back wheel of the Brit and recovery from a tougher first couple of laps almost complete. A lap later he made a move but Smith took him back at the final corner, and the two blasted down the start-finish straight in tandem.
Tuuli set it up and attacked again into Turn 1, the Finnish rider back in charge and slowly but surely able to get just enough breathing space to stay out the clutches of Smith. Meanwhile, just behind, Garzo had managed to tag onto the battle for second. But drama then hit slightly further back as Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) came together with Lorenzo Savadori and the Italian went down, and ultimately that would decide the race.
Savadori was up and ok, but the air fence took a hit from the bike and that meant the Red Flag came out, cutting the race short. With the standings based on the last lap over the line, that made Niki Tuuli the history-making first ever winner in the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup.
Bradley Smith took second ahead of Di Meglio, with the Frenchman having only just attacked him for P2 but that now null and void. Garzo was forced to settle for fourth, with Ferrari completing the top five.
Alex De Angelis got the better of Xavier Simeon and took P6, with Eric Granado recovering from well outside the top ten after getting caught out in an early melee and the Brazilian taking P8. Sete Gibernau (Join Contract Pons 40) was ninth at the head of a big gaggle of riders squabbling over the final two places in the top ten, ahead of Nico Terol (Openbank Angel Nieto Team), Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse), Niccolo Canepa (LCR E-Team), Jesko Raffin (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Kenny Foray (Tech 3 E-Racing). Josh Hook (Octo Pramac MotoE) completed the points.
That’s it from the inaugural weekend for the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup, with Tuuli the first ever winner and therefore our first Championship leader. How will Austria shake it up? The Sachsenring is about corners, and the Red Bull Ring is much more stop-and-go. Tune in on the 11th August for Round 2!
Niki Tuuli: “I’m really happy, already after the first test we knew the bike was going to fit for me, but every time we’ve gone but we’ve been close to the top three and that’s the main thing, and especially here in the fast corners I’ve been really good and I think that’s where yesterday I made the laptime as well.
“On Friday and Saturday we had good speed and I know the places where I’m quite a lot faster at the moment. In the race because the weather is quite difficult we didn’t know where were the wet patches on track and we made the bike softer. Then straightaway when we started the race and I hit the brakes at Turn 1 I hit the bottom and knew it was too soft. After that I tried to keep the riding quite soft for the first two laps and after that I tried to push a bit and find out where it was working or not. I made a couple of mistakes when I was pushing too much, but in the end I made a small gap. We have many thing to improve and unfortunately today we had a really short race. But in the end we were first all weekend so it’s a good start to the year!”
More, from a press release issued by Energica:
NIKI TUULI POWERS HIS EGO CORSA TO WIN THE FIRST-EVER MOTOE RACE AT THE SACHSENRING
The inaugural race of the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup at the Sachsenring saw a hard-fought battle for the win with four riders involved at the front. Yesterday’s E-Pole winnerNiki Tuuli came out on top on his Ajo MotoE Energica Ego Corsa to edge Bradley Smith (One Energy Racing) and Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), with Tech3 E-Racing’s Hector Garzo in fourth place.
“Words cannot express how excited I was to finally see the inaugural race of the FIM MotoE World Cup!” said Energica CEO Livia Cevolini. “Our Energica Ego Corsa machines, ridden by these incredibly talented riders, stole the show today and I cannot wait for the second race to begin. We are extremely happy with how the weekend unfolded and with the performance of the bikes – and so are the riders, given the great feedback we received in the official press conference. It is now time to return to our headquarters in Modena to start the preparations for the next event. A huge thank you goes to all the parties involved, our shareholders, everyone at Energica who worked day and night to make all this possible – and of course to all the fans, who showed an amazing amount of support!”
Under mixed conditions due to the overnight rain (the race was called ‘wet’ by Race Direction), it was former MotoGP star Bradley Smith who led the way as the MotoE field entered turn one. The experienced Briton tried to pull away but was eventually caught and passed by Mike Di Meglio. The two exchanged positions several times and that allowed pole setter Niki Tuuli to bridge the gap to the front, with Garzo, Matteo Ferrari (Team Trentino Gresini), Alex De Angelis (OCTO Pramac MotoE) and Xavier Simeon (Avintia Esponsorama) – who finished in the same order as the race drew to a close – not far behind.
As the laps went by, the first three would take in turns at the front while building a gap with the chasing pack. It was all setting up for a thrilling finale, but unfortunately a collision between front-row starter Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama) and Lorenzo Savadori (Team Trentino Gresini) on lap five led to a crash for the latter and ultimately to a premature end to the race due to a Red Flag.
The standings at the end of lap five determined the final classification. With Granado in eighth place, the top-ten was completed by MotoGP icon Sete Gibernau (Join Contract Pons 40) and Nico Terol (OpenBank Angel Nieto Team).
Energica and the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup will return to action in a little over a month at the Red Bull Ring in Austria for round two (9-11 August).
More, from a press release issued by Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS:
Di Meglio powers to brilliant, historic MotoE podium
Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Mike di Meglio battles to a superb third place in the shortened first round of the MotoE World Cup at the Sachsenring.
Starting the first MotoE World Cup race in history from fourth on the grid, Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS’ Mike Di Meglio made an excellent start to finish the first lap in second position.
The 2008 125cc World Champion was involved in an all-action four-rider fight for the victory with Niki Tuuli, Bradley Smith and Hector Garzo in the seven-lap race.
Having conserved his rear tyre in the opening laps, Di Meglio had just passed Smith for second on lap six when the race was stopped due to a crash for Lorenzo Savadori.
Results were decided on the leaderboard after lap five, demoting the Frenchman to third.
Mike Di Meglio
3rd, + 0.567s.
“It was as I planned, I am really happy with that podium”
“It was as I planned. I wanted to do a really good first lap and I ended it in second position. I got a good start and braked very late into the first turn but I saw a lot of riders on my inside. I said, ‘Mike, keep your speed!’ After that I was fighting with Niki and Bradley while trying to manage the rear tyre because it would help me at the end of the race. The tyre was sliding a lot but I think it was because of this cold temperature. I planned to pass Bradley because I saw he was quite a bit quicker. Then when I did that I saw the red flag. But sometimes racing is like that. It was quite good. It was quite good, I am really happy with that historic podium.”
Joan Olivé
Team manager
“All weekend Mike showed good potential and very good rhythm”
“We are very happy to start the new MotoE category with a podium. All weekend Mike showed good potential and very good rhythm. Unfortunately the race was stopped early but I think Mike did a good job with the tyres, saving them for the end. Anyway it’s a good result. We don’t have so many races in this series so it’s good to stay on the podium.”
More, from a press release issued by Octo Pramac Racing:
#MotoE #GermanGP RACE. P6 Alex De Angelis: “I had a great time”. P15 Josh Hook: “Positive feelings during the race”.
The first race in the history of #MotoE took place today at the Sachsenring circuit. It was a historic event in the world of two wheels with 18 riders and the Energica Ego Corsa fighting until the red flag stopped the race two laps from the end due to the crash of Salvadori.
Alex De Angelis, who started from ninth place, immediately recovered two positions at the first corner and then engaged in an exciting duel with Simeon to finish in sixth position.
Josh Hook started from sixteenth position and managed in the first laps to gain two positions then finishing 15th.
P6 – Alex De Angelis
“I had a great time. At the first corner I chose to brake and stay inside and it was a good tactic because it allowed me to recover some positions. The duel with Simeon made me lose contact with the leading group but it was really exciting”.
P15 – Josh Hook
“The feeling with the bike grew during the race. It was very important to be with the peloton on a circuit where I raced on Friday for the first time. It wasn’t a particularly satisfying weekend but we have to take the positive side and improve”.
More, from a press release issued by LCR E-Team:
LCR E-TEAM RIDERS COMPLETE THE INAUGURAL MOTOE RACE
The FIM Enel MotoE World Cup is now officially underway, with the first race completed at the Sachsenring. The race was officially meant to run for 8 laps, though was reduced to 7 laps at the start due to the wet conditions. The race was red flagged due to a crash that damaged the air fence, so the result given is the running order as of lap 5.
Another issue riders had to contend with was the weather, with the race officially declared as wet. Both practice sessions and the E-pole session ran in warm, dry conditions, so there was an added challenge of adapting to the bike on the wet track.
For LCR E-Team rider Niccolò Canepa, contact on the first lap pushed him further down the rankings, though he rode well to put himself back into the top 10 at the time the race was red flagged. As the result was given from lap 5, he officially finished 12th. For Randy de Puniet, the Frenchman is still struggling to gain confidence and the correct feeling on his Energica bike, especially following the bad crash he suffered at the Valencia test. The riders both look forward to gaining more experience on the bike and hopefully improving in future races.
Randy De Puniet – 17th
“It was not an easy race – since the beginning of the weekend, as I’ve explained before, I have zero feeling and I’m not confident after crashing in Valencia. I really hoped to get some more confidence and speed during the race, but it was not the case. I’m sorry to the team and the sponsors but I was not able to do better today. I hope after the break I will feel better on the bike so we will see for the next race.”
Niccolò Canepa – 12th
“I’m really upset because I had contact in the first lap – I was in 8th place and was put back to 14th place. I was coming back into the top 10 and was 10th when the red flag came out but they gave the results from the previous lap so I was actually 12th in the results. I feel frustrated because I think this time a 5-lap race is too short.”
More, from a press release issued by One Energy Racing:
Historic second place for Smith and ONE Energy Racing in first MotoE race
Bradley Smith finishes on the podium at Sachsenring in the first round of the MotoE World Cup, leading the race for several laps.
2nd BRADLEY SMITH +0.442
ONE Energy Racing and Bradley Smith became part of history in the MotoE World Cup by finishing on the class’ first ever podium. The British rider claimed a great second position after starting from the third row of the grid, as well as managing to lead a race that ended prematurely due to a red flag.
Smith made a great start from seventh place, was second into the first corner and quickly got to the front of the race – reduced to seven laps due to a delay in getting underway. The ONE Energy Racing rider continued in the fight for victory, leading on several occasions. With two laps remaining, a crash for another rider resulted in a red flag, ending the race ahead of time and giving Smith second place.
After this result, Smith is second in the overall standings with 20 points, 5 off the top spot. The next round of the MotoE World Cup will be the Austrian GP on August 9th to 11th.
Matteo Ballarin – Team Principal
“We are very happy. Bradley [Smith] had a great race, with a fantastic start. Yesterday’s E-Pole did not turn out as we had hoped, but Bradley is a very special rider and today he provided a great performance. The whole team worked very well during this first weekend. We can continue to improve ahead of the next race, but we had a great first weekend here in Germany. Finishing on the podium at the first round is a very positive result. The MotoE World Cup is a new adventure, and there are many things still to be discovered. It is all really exciting.”
#38 Bradley Smith
“I’m very happy to have got on the podium at this first MotoE World Cup race with ONE Energy Racing. Yesterday I was somewhat disappointed with my result in E-Pole, but I still knew that if I got a good start I could be in the fight in the race.
I managed to get a very good start and lead the race, so that was nice. I couldn’t be a part of the race simulation in Valencia, so I was lacking some knowledge of what the contest was going to be like, but I learned a lot today. It was only five laps, but I know where I can improve for the next round in Austria.
The race was exciting, so that’s good for the show and for the competition. I want to thank the team; they changed the bike from yesterday to today and did a great job.”
More, from a press release issued by Tech3 E-Racing:
Hard fought MotoE debut for Garzo and Foray in Germany
Following some rain, the first race of the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup was declared wet and shortened to seven laps today, although the Sachsenring track already dried out.
Thereby, Tech3 E-Racing’s Hector Garzo came off the line perfectly and lead the field to the first corner. Involved in a hard fight for the podium, the Spanish rider planned to attack towards the end of the race, but was fourth when the red flag came out after five completed laps. Meanwhile, Kenny Foray was progressing from P14 to P12 in the course of the last lap, battled for the points scoring positions and found himself in 14th when the race was declared completed.
Hector Garzo
Position: 4th
Championship: 4th
Points: 13
“Unfortunately, it was a difficult race and not the result we have hoped for. I was waiting for the last two laps. Just the moment before the red flag, I was thinking about my overtake. But well, this is racing. You never know, that this is going to happen. Anyway, I’m happy because we four riders finished with a great time. For sure, I would have been a bit more satisfied to get a podium in the first MotoE race, but still our work is good and we know we are strong in every condition. Thanks a lot to the team, we did a really good job and for the first MotoE race of the history, it’s not bad. We must be happy. I’m looking forward to Austria now, keep calm and work hard.”
Kenny Foray
Position: 14th
Championship: 14th
Points: 2
“It was a good race. The result is not, what I expected, but my feeling was better. Now, I need to be more aggressive in the race, because two times, I decided to stay behind the guys in front of me and two times, somebody overtook me. So, I need to push all the time. I was really good on the brakes, but I couldn’t take full advantage of this. My feeling on the bike was good, it was great fun. The result is not ideal, but now I need to improve for the next race. I was a good experience for me and I’m happy, although I was hoping for a few more points. I’m sure for Austria, we will be better.”
Hervé Poncharal
Team Manager
“Finally, we saw our first MotoE race here in Sachsenring. We were very happy with our Qualifying with Hector in the front row and Kenny having a decent Qualifying too. When we saw rain this morning, we were a bit worried, but finally the track dried and we had a very good race. Hector had a fantastic start, because he was leading at the first turn. We could see that there was a battle of four riders and Hector was right inside that fight, waiting for the last two laps to eventually make a move, but unfortunately, we had a red flag that stopped the race with two laps to go. It was a pity, because I think our strategy was working until then. Hector was right behind that group, trying to save the tyres, but because the air fence was broken, you have to red flag the race, so I absolutely understand the decision of the race direction. This time, it didn’t play in our favor. Anyway, we soon have another chance to show what we can do in Red Bull Ring. So, all together it was a good weekend for Tech3 E-Racing. I think also Kenny understood a lot of things, especially that a sprint race is not what he is used to in endurance, so he’s going to get better and better. Hector is quite frustrated right now, so he will be willing to change and be on the podium next time. Overall, a good round one. I think it was a great show and it’s a proper class in our championship.”