Torres pips Ferrari by 0.011 for maiden E-Pole P1

Rookie Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) edged out San Marino GP race winner Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) by 0.011 in FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup E-Pole at the Gran Premio TISSOT dell'Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini, claiming his first pole position in the class. World Cup leader Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) will line-up on the front row for Race 1.

Second out the traps, Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) set a good benchmark for the riders to beat, with Maria Herrera (Openbank Aspar Team) and Josh Hook (Octo Pramac MotoE) unable to beat the Andorran rider’s time. Alejandro Medina (Openbank Aspar Team) did then go P1 ahead of Cardelus with the first 1:43 of E-Pole, before Niki Tuuli (Avant Ajo MotoE) took over at the top with a 1:43.850 – 0.056 quicker than Medina. Niccolo Canepa (LCR E-Team) slotted himself into P3 as last weekend’s polesitter Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) then encountered problems on his out-lap.

Alessandro Zaccone (Trentino Gresini MotoE) was disappointed with his lap, the Italian went P6 ahead of Herrera and Jakub Kornfeil (WithU Motorsport), before Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-Racing) moved the E-Pole goalposts. The German set a 1:43.432 – his best time of the weekend – to go four tenths clear. Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) slotted himself into P2 but the Frenchman was also four tenths behind Tulovic – before it was the turn of Aegerter.

Aegerter was on it and sure enough, the Swiss rider went provisional P1 – but not by much. Aegerter went 0.135 ahead of Tulovic with six riders still to set a time. Tommaso Marcon (Tech3 E-Racing) wasn’t happy with his 1:44.133 which saw him take provisional P6, with the replays showing the Italian going for a rodeo ride on the exit of Turn 2.

So then, five riders to come. The first of them was San Marino GP podium man Xavier Simeon (LCR E-Team), and the Belgian rider was within a tenth through the second split. Simeon lost time through the third split but gained some back in the final sector, with Simeon crossing the line to take P2 – 0.120 off Aegerter. Torres was then getting down to business and the class rookie was 0.083 under Aegerter’s time halfway around his lap. Torres lost time in the third split through the fast left-handers but the Spaniard produced a storming final sector to take P1 by over a tenth.

Your most recent MotoE™ race winner Ferrari was then setting a great lap and was very much in touch, just 0.003 split him and Torres through Sector 3. Ferrari crossed the line and couldn’t quite beat Torres, 0.011 separating the duo over their flying laps. Sammarinese rider Alex de Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE) was cautious around his lap in order to not make the same mistake as last week, the experienced rider went P9, before Free Practice pacesetter Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) headed out.

The Brazilian exceeded track limits in E-Pole seven days ago and was eager to not make the same mistake again. Granado was 0.176 off Torres’ time through Sector 3 and didn’t even go near the kerb on the exit of Turn 15 – where he exceeded track limits last week – as Granado went P4.

E-Pole wasn’t quite over though. Casadei was allowed to go out at the end of the session because it was a transponder issue that caused him to pull into pitlane, and he was completing his lap without anyone knowing what sort of times he was setting. The tension was palpable but Casadei didn’t trouble the front row, he claimed P7 ahead of Di Meglio.

So Torres claims his maiden P1 in E-Pole ahead of Race 1 at 16:20 (GMT+2) on Saturday, Ferrari and Aegerter join the Spaniard on the front row. Granado spearheads Row 2 alongside Simeon and Tulovic, with Casadei leading Row 3. Di Meglio, Tuuli and Medina completed the top 10 in E-Pole.

Make sure you tune into MotoE™ Race 1 later today, with the results from the opening race deciding the grid for Race 2 on Sunday morning at 10:05.

Top 10:
1. Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) – 1:43.154
2. Matteo Ferrari (TRENTINO Gresini MotoE) + 0.011
3. Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) + 0.143
4. Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) + 0.198
5. Xavier Simeon (LCR E-Team) + 0.263
6. Lukas Tulovic (Tech 3 E-Racing) + 0.278
7. Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Sqaudra Corse) + 0.348
8. Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) + 0.691
9. Niki Tuuli (Avant Ajo MotoE) + 0.696
10. Alejandro Medina (Openbank Aspar Team) + 0.752

Click here for the full results!