Aegerter wins a MotoE™ thriller in Mugello

The FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup has produced a thriller in its first race at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley, with Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) taking victory despite starting the final lap in fifth position.

While it was a Swiss rider who bagged line honours, the fans watching on at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello also had reason to cheer with Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE™) finishing second and fellow Italian Andrea Mantovani (WithU GRT RNF MotoE™ Team) pinching third at the chequered flag.

A frantic opening

The intrigue began before the race had even started, with riders arriving on the grid on wet tyres before changing to slicks due to the rain at Mugello being only very light. When the lights went out, Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta Sic58 Squadracorse) got the jump from the middle of the front row and led the field up the hill to San Donato (Turn 1), with Ferrari emerging second from the opening corners and pole-sitter Aegerter third.

Ferrari then went underneath Zannoni as they ran through the Arrabbiata corners (Turns 8 and 9), as Aegerter and Niccolo Canepa (WithU GRT RNF MotoE™ Team) duelled over third place. When they arrived at Scarperia (Turn 10), Aegerter went down the inside of both Ferrari and Zannoni to take the lead, while bodywork was sent flying due to contact behind them between Granado and Canepa.

The battle continues to rage

For his trouble, Aegerter was swamped as his rivals slipstreamed off him when they ran back up the main straight to start Lap 2, but he reclaimed first position by braking late at San Donato. Granado was slicing his way through the pack, and he would hit the front when he went underneath the Swiss rider as they turned into Materassi (Turn 4), just down the hill.

It looked like they might form something of a breakaway, but their battle for position mean that Ferrari was back in touch when Aegerter went down the inside of Granado to reclaim top spot on Lap 3 at Scarperia. Marc Alcoba (Openbank Aspar Team) emerged as a contender for victory and, astonishingly, he made it a four-wide run up the hill towards San Donato at the start of Lap 4. Ferrari emerged in front after all of that, from Granado and Alcoba, with Aegerter dropping from first to fourth in a matter of corners.

Aegerter refuses to give in

Despite looking to have made an on-the-run adjustment to his brake lever, and then ceding fourth position to Mantovani, Aegerter refused to give in. He made a big lunge under brakes at San Donato on the fifth and final lap of the race and that put him all the way back into the race lead, with Ferrari in second place.

In the drag to the finish line, the Moto2™ race winner beat Ferrari to another MotoE™ victory by only 0.033 seconds. Mantovani, who is only riding this weekend as an injury replacement for Bradley Smith, showed he is worthy of the task by overtaking Granadao for third as they reached the finish line, the gap between them just 0.007 seconds. A final-lap pass helped Mattia Casadei (Pons Racing 40) to fifth and consigned Alcoba to sixth but, quite amazingly, the latter was still only 0.983 seconds from winning.

Canepa took seventh, Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) eighth, and Zannoni finished ninth after losing touch with the leading group on Lap 2. Hector Garzo (Tech3 E-Racing) rounded out the top 10, while Massimo Roccoli (Pons Racing 40), who is filling in for Jordi Torres, got home in 16th after serving a long lap penalty for irresponsible riding in Q1. Roccoli was deemed at fault in the clash with Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), who missed the race due to being declared unfit with a compound fracture of his fifth toe and abrasion on fourth toe on his right foot.

Aegerter builds his World Cup lead

Naturally, another race win means the Swiss pilot has increased his lead atop the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup standings, to 20 points over Granado.

Can he stretch it even further, or will someone else step up? There is more MotoE™ mayhem on the way when Race 2 kicks off on Sunday at 15:30 (GMT +2).

MotoE™ Race 1 Top 5:

1. Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE)
2. Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) + 0.033
3. Andrea Mantovani (Withu GRT RNF MotoE Team) + 0.238
4. Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) + 0.245
5. Mattia Casadei (Pons Racing 40) + 0.975

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