A second FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup victory of 2021 came the way of Eric Granado (One Energy Racing) at the Motul TT Assen thanks to a fantastic outing, which saw less than a second cover the podium finishers at the chequered flag. Reigning World Cup winner Jordi Torres (HP Pons 40) finished second, just ahead of current standings leader Alessandro Zaccone (Octo Pramac MotoE), as title challenger Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) crashes on Lap 1.
Oh dear ???? @ericgranado did everything right but THAT! ????#MotoE | #DutchGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/1C3fAI9JgH
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) June 27, 2021
Another intense fight for victory
From the middle of the front row, Tulovic out dragged polesitter Granado into Turn 1 to snatch the holeshot as World Cup leader Zaccone held station in third place. Drama unfolded at the end of the opening lap as Aegerter, the rider second in the standings heading to Assen, was down at the chicane – rider ok.
Lap 2 saw Zaccone take the lead, with Tulovic getting a bit beaten up after the perfect getaway. The German was shoved down to P5 as the riders ventured onto Lap 3, as Granado landed the fastest lap of the race to take the lead at the beginning of Lap 4. There was an eight-rider freight train split by just 1.6s with three laps to go, but Granado had half a second advantage, as Torres made a Turn 1 move past Zaccone into P2.
2nd victory of the season! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) June 27, 2021
Burn out time for @ericgranado! ????#MotoE | #DutchGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/NhDYy68h8i
At the front, Granado was in the groove and his advantage with two laps to go was still half a second. Now, Torres and Zaccone had gapped fourth place Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE), 0.6s covered the leading trio with just one more lap to go.
Torres was trying to reel in Granado but a scrap with Zaccone ultimately cost the duo a chance of beating Granado. Zaccone was out of the seat coming out of Turn 10 after contact with Torres, who struck straight back after conceding the position at Turn 9. Meanwhile, Granado safely negotiated the final lap to win his second MotoE™ race of the year. Torres’ second place hands the Spaniard second in the standings, seven points adrift of Zaccone, the latter earning his third podium of 2021. Granado is now third in the standings, 17 points away from Zaccone.
A closely fought contest in the top 10
2019 World Cup winner Ferrari claims his best finish of the season in fourth place, 1.1s ahead of fifth place Tulovic. Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) was just 0.036s behind Tulovic in sixth, with Fermin Aldeguer (Openbank Aspar Team) a further 0.050s behind in seventh. Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) made a great start and was up to P4 at one point, the Japanese rider settled for P8 in the end, as Yonny Hernandez (Octo Pramac MotoE) and Barcelona winner Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) round out the top 10.
Heading into the summer break, 17 points split Zaccone, Torres, Granado and Aegerter in the title race. As always, MotoE™ delivers on its first visit to Assen, more of the same coming up in Austria next time out.
Top 10:
1. Eric Granado (One Energy Racing)
2. Jordi Torres (HP Pons 40) + 0.844
3. Alessandro Zaccone (Octo Pramac MotoE) + 0.925
4. Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) + 1.518
5. Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-Racing) + 2.656
6. Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 2.692
7. Fermin Aldeguer (Openbank Aspar Team) + 2.742
8. Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) + 4.728
9. Yonny Hernandez (Octo Pramac MotoE) + 4.715
10. Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) + 6.652