Quotes and photos from the Thursday Press Conference as the electric series gets ready for Round 7
The FIM Enel MotoE™ World Championship has arrived at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for Round 7, and this time around the Press Conference saw Championship leader Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) joined by now-closest challenger Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40); fresh from three wins in a row, Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE™); a single point further back, and Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse); double podium finisher last time out.
JORDI TORRES: “I think the most important thing this weekend is to think about the rhythm and try to do 100% because also it’s my home race. It’s important to get a good result here because after this race we head to into the home round for Mattia and Matteo. It’s very important to stay at the front at this home race, because for sure, these guys will be giving me a hard time at Misano to be able to try and stay at the top. So yes, this track I’ve won at and I know it well. It’s a special track for me so I’ll try to do my 100% and show my efforts. I tried to do the same at Spielberg, But it’s not a track for my condition, for my weight. Here it’s very different because you arrive at these long straights at a high speed. Whereas at Spielberg you arrive at the long straights from low-speed corners and then the acceleration is really difficult with my riding style as well as my size. Here it’s completely different and for sure we will try to get our elbows out, stay at the top and work hard to defend our lead. We will see what happens, but for sure you know anything can happen in this category so yeah, we keep our fingers crossed.”
What about the chance of rain?
“Will see the weather conditions because the prediction are difficult to understand but I think in MotoE it’s not very important because tomorrow we only do 6 + 6 + 2 laps in varying conditions. We must adapt very fast to the track conditions depending on whether it’s dry or wet. We know that we’re fast in the wet and maybe, we can defend better compared to our rivals. In my opinion, maybe the rain is better for me because also the bike is very durable and the wet tyres are fantastic. We can also give a good show in the rain conditions, like in Silverstone for example, but yes, we’ll see. I don’t think it’s very important in this category because we always go on circuit in varying conditions, not necessarily whether it’s dry or wet .For example, tomorrow morning we’ll have rubber on the tarmac and it’s very different after FP2 that has many riders and hot temperatures where the feel of the bike is very different compared to the first practice and for sure after in the qualifying practice, the conditions will be completely different again. The adaptability of the rider in this category is very important and we know that this is the main objective to be competitive in this category. I think more or less 70% of the grid know that this most important thing to learn!”
MATTIA CASADEI: “Very happy. This is my goal this year with the team. The start was a little bit difficult but we were working on my bike and my riding style and now we’ve improved a lot and this is the result of our hard work. We are we are very happy .We want to do a very good weekend also here.”
You were teammates with Jordi in the past, does it give you insight on how to beat him?
“Jordi gave me a lot of advice. He’s a really good guy. I respect Jordi a lot and I will try to be as good as possible and have a good fight and hope to enjoy it a lot. May the best rider win!”
MATTEO FERRARI: “I’m happy because I can fight for the title. When you crash in this category in the last part of the season it’s very difficult to fight and to arrive for the victory. I think we did a great job in Race 2 because after crashing in Race 1, we had to reset to try to push. In Le Mans it was a little bit easier because it was the first race. In this period it’s a little bit more difficult because yes I’m very fast and I can fight for the victory and the title, but when you crash, with three corners to go, it’s not the best moment of my life, but you know this sport can give a lot of experience to a rider…
“From this experience I’ve learned a lot, I pushed in a great way in Race 2 and unfortunately in the first lap I tried to overtake Eric and it was a bit difficult compared to Race 1, so for this reason I arrived a little bit late. But you know, this is racing. I’m sat third in the championship and it will hopefully it’ll be a great weekend here in Barcelona with these three guys. They’re very, very fast. It’s als beautiful to fight with these guys because every time on track there is respect. So, may the best rider win!”
How do you find Barcelona?
“We had a great test here in the preseason. I’m ready I think the base setup of the bike is more or less OK. During the season we’ve changed a little bit our riding style and the balance of the bike, but you know, more or less I’m confident that tomorrow morning the bike will work in a good way. There will be a new front tyre so I think we’ll have to work a little bit on that, but I think it won’t be a big change so we only have to work on that. We will see what happens on Saturday’s races.”
KEVIN ZANNONI: “I’m very happy about the result from the last races, I think it’s result that we deserved in the past. I’ve always been very close to this result, but we’ve worked a lot. I worked a lot at home and with the team. During these races I felt really good. At this moment I feel really good. I know this track, this is completely different from Red Bull Ring, but we need to see tomorrow during the first practice. But I think I can be competitive again. I need to stay focused on this track and cancel the last weekend. It was good I had a beautiful moment with the people that support me. But we need to stay focused race by race and continue this progression.”
What made the difference?
“I think one reason it’s just a track that I love so much I love the braking at that track. Also the setting of the bike during these races I felt was really good. Also in Silverstone, I started 5th in qualifying, Assen race two I felt good and was fighting for the podium. I like the bike at the moment, I feel really good but I especially love the Red Bull Ring.”
For more info checkout our dedicated MotoE News page
Or visit the official MotoGP website motogp.com
