Dominque Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) emerged victorious from a last lap FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup battle in Race 1 at the Gran Premio TISSOT dell'Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini. The Swiss rider beat title rivals Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) and Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) to the line, with Ferrari dropping one position to P3 after the race for exceeding track limits on the final lap.
It was Ferrari who got the holeshot into Turn 1 from second on the grid, with polesitter Torres slotting into second. There was drama from the off as Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-Racing) suffered a huge highside at Turn 2 in the middle of the pack, thankfully the riders avoided contact with Tulovic as the German rider headed to the medical centre for a check-up. Tech3 later confirmed Tulovic had suffered a broken third metacarpal bone in his right hand and he has some pain in his right ankle, with the doctors deciding tomorrow morning whether he is fit to ride in Race 2.
Emerging from Lap 1 out front was Ferrari as a lead group of six formed, with Aegerter grabbing second off Torres on Lap 2. Lap 3 then witnessed more drama – and it was big. Free Practice pacesetter Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) was looking impatient to get to the front and having made his way past Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) shortly before, the Brazilian went for an inside move on Xavier Simeon (LCR E-Team) at the tight Turn 4 right-hander. It looked like Granado had made the move stick but the front of his Energica Ego Corsa then suddenly washed away, with Simeon the unlucky party. Both riders were down and out of the race – thankfully ok – but that’s a disaster for their title hopes. It also means the duo will be starting from the back of the grid for Race 2 tomorrow.
Lukas’ guardian angel did a great job today!
— Red Bull KTM Tech3 (@Tech3Racing) September 19, 2020
Yet, he suffered a broken third metacarpal bone on his right hand and has some pain in his right ankle. Tomorrow morning the doctors will decide if he can take part in race two ????????#Tech3 #ERacing @MotoGP #MotoGP #LT35 #EmiliaRomagnaGP pic.twitter.com/FAvRvEQbQ2
The incident left a lead group of three riders up front, with Casadei 0.8 seconds adrift in P4. Ferrari led Torres and Aegerter as the leading quartet in the race were the top four in the World Cup standings, making it a vital race. With three laps to go, Aegerter made his move on Torres at Turn 14. However, Torres was able to get the cutback on the Swiss rider and grab P2 back – giving Ferrari a little bit of breathing space.
That was soon diminished though and at the start of the last lap, Aegerter again showed a wheel to Torres – and made a Turn 1 pass stick. Now, the top two in the title race were the top two in the race. Heading down the back straight into Turn 11, Ferrari remained ahead but you could tell what was coming. Aegerter was tucked into the slipstream of his rival and heading into Turn 14, Aegerter was up the inside of Ferrari and into the lead. Could Ferrari get the cutback? Not quite, Aegerter led through the final sector and held it into the final corner to claim a crucial Race 1 victory.
In an attempt to beat Aegerter on the run to the line, Ferrari exceeded track limits at Turn 16 and was demoted one position – handing third across the line Torres P2. The top three across the line were covered by just 0.103 seconds in Race 1, with Aegerter extending his lead in the standings to 19 points over Torres, with Ferrari two adrift of Torres in P3. In addition, the podium finishers secure front row starts for Race 2 on Sunday.
Casadei took the chequered flag 2.5 seconds from victory to earn his fourth consecutive top five finish of 2020, with Tommaso Marcon (Tech3 E-Racing) completing the top five. Niccolo Canepa (LCR E-Team) finished P6, just over half a second ahead of a great gaggle of riders who battled it out for the remaining top 10 positions. Alejandro Medina (Openbank Aspar Team), Josh Hook (Octo Pramac MotoE), Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) and Alessandro Zaccone (Trentino Gresini MotoE) crossed the line just half a second apart to round out the top 10.
Alex de Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE) and Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) crashed unhurt in Race 1.
A fantastic race in MotoE™ on Saturday sets us up nicely for another seven-lap thriller on Sunday morning. And remember, the finishing positions from Race 1 decide the grid for Race 2, so there’s going to be some riders aiming to make some quick progress from the back of the grid – tune in at 10:05 (GMT+2).
Top 10:
1. Dominque Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP)
2. Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) + 0.103
3. Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) + 0.075*
4. Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) + 2.531
5. Tommaso Marcon (Tech3 E-Racing) + 6.578
6. Niccolo Canepa (LCR E-Team) + 7.695
7. Alejandro Medina (Openbank Aspar Team) + 8.277
8. Josh Hook (Octo Pramac MotoE) + 8.336
9. Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) + 8.553
10. Alessandro Zaccone (Trentino Gresini MotoE) + 8.640
*One-place penalty
Click here for the full results!