Thanks to a whole host of lap times getting cancelled for yellow flag infringements, Eric Granado (One Energy Racing) has earned his second E-Pole P1 of the season. The Brazilian will line up alongside Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) and Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) on Sunday’s grid as fastest rider Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) gets demoted to P6.
Just before the MotoE™ riders were about to head out for a wet E-Pole procedure, a 12-minute session where all the riders went out together instead of one by one, there was an almighty downpour. Granado was the first rider to head out but immediately it was clear that conditions were far too treacherous, so the red flags were waved. The heavy rain didn’t stick around for long and with conditions vastly improved after a short wait, the riders were out on track in a wet weather E-Pole battle.
Aegerter’s 2:03.417 was the first benchmark time, two tenths quicker than Granado, as Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-Racing) hit the deck at Turn 3 on his second flying lap. Yonny Hernandez (Octo Pramac MotoE) then crashed at the final corner as Granado went three seconds faster on his second lap, before the Brazilian highsided at Turn 3. Thankfully he was back up on his feet, but rookie Pons had cut Granado’s advantage to 0.1s.
Yellow flag infringements see a very late shuffle of the order! ????@DomiAegerter77 now lines up ahead of @ericgranado and @jorditorres81! ????#MotoE | #FrenchGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/Q2Jz1fRZF3
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) May 15, 2021
Aegerter was then at the summit with a 2:00.251, 0.064s ahead of Granado, but Pons then moved the goalposts to a 1:58.384. Aegerter, on his next lap, returned to P1 by 0.101s but just ahead of him, Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) crashed at the final corner. Aegerter’s lap stood though and as the riders pulled into pitlane having completed their allocated six laps – including the out-lap and in-laps – it was the Swiss star who took the P1 parking spot in parc ferme.
However, there was post-session drama. Because of a number of crashes, a whole host of riders were having their laps cancelled – including Aegerter. Pons and other parc ferme attendee Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) also had their laps chalked off, so did fourth place Fermin Aldeguer (Openbank Aspar Team). This promoted Granado to P1, with all the other changes eventually seeing Pons hold onto P2 with 2019 Cup winner Ferrari completing the front row.
Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) and title leader Alessandro Zaccone (Octo Pramac MotoE) will sit ahead of Aegerter in P4 and P5 respectively, Andrea Mantovani (Indonesian E-Racing MotoE) is another rider to profit from cancelled laps in P7. Aldeguer slips to P8 from the second row, the 16-year-old is one place ahead of former MotoGP™ rider Hernandez. Okubo, who was in parc ferme, will be starting P10.
Drama aplenty in MotoE™ on Saturday, what will Round 2 of the season bring on Sunday afternoon? Don’t forget the race is now after MotoGP™ at 15:30 local time (GMT+2).
Top 10:
1. Eric Granado (One Energy Racing) – 2:00.315
2. Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) + 0.101
3. Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) + 0.340
4. Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) + 1.122
5. Alessandro Zaccone (Octo Pramac MotoE) + 1.882
6. Dominque Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) + 3.102
7. Andrea Mantovani (Indonesian E-Racing MotoE) + 3.457
8. Fermin Aldeguer (Openbank Aspar Team) + 4.527
9. Yonny Hernandez (Octo Pramac MotoE) + 4.930
10. Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) + 5.546
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