The Spaniard was back on the top step, with Garzo and Granado crashing out… but a penalty promoting Ferrari to a valuable third.
Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) took a stunning victory at the Sachsenring in Race 1. Polesitter Torres lost out at the start but a series of incredible overtakes and then late drama meant he took victory. Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) claimed his best MotoE™ result with second, while Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) was ultimately classified third after a penalty for rookie Nicholas Spinelli (HP Pons Los40).
The lights went out for Race 1 and rookie Spinelli took the lead into Turn 1, but he soon relinquished that on Lap 2 when Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) came past in search of his first MotoE™ win. Garzo’s pace meant he was able to set a new race lap record on the second lap, with a 1:27.914, before the race pace across the field slowed down. The Spaniard was unable to pull away from the chasing pack as polesitter Torres kept the pressure on, although he found himself dropping down the order in the early stages.
Mugello Race 2 winner Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) moved into the podium places as he passed Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) with an unconventional but effective move at Turn 2 on Lap 5 before he set his sights on Torres up ahead. A lap later and Granado was through on the two-time World Cup winner at Turn 12; a move he repeated on Lap 7 on Garzo to move into the lead. Granado’s lead lasted just a couple of laps as Torres, who had battled back into the lead fight, came by on Lap 9 at Turn 12 to take the lead.
The drama continued at the start of the final lap. Both Granado and Garzo crashed at Turn 1, in separate incidents, with Granado attempting to re-take the lead when he lost the front of his Ducati machine while Garzo went down after contact with Spinelli. The incident was placed under investigation by the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards with Spinelli given a three-second penalty, the equivalent of a Long Lap Penalty. The incident itself saw Krummenacher take over in second and Spinelli third initially, but the Italian dropped to sixth once the penalty was applied. That puts Ferrari into third, and given the Italian had started tenth after he was disqualified from Q2 for a technical infringement, it was a first job of the day well done.
Ferrari was three tenths clear of Alessandro Zaccone (Tech3 E-racing) in fourth, the Italian back into the front echelons as he gains experience on the new Ducati and returns from Moto2™. Zaccone had a two-second margin over Casadei in fifth. Spinelli was sixth with his penalty, finishing ahead of Tito Rabat (Prettl Pramac MotoE™) in eighth as the Spaniard made gains. Mugello Race 1 victor Andrea Mantovani (RNF MotoE Team) was ninth with Hikari Okubo (Tech3 E-racing) rounding out the top ten.
MotoE Top 4 – Race Result 1 – Italian GP
1. Jordi TORRES – SPA – Openbank Aspar Team – 14’46.636
2. Randy KRUMMENACHER – SWI – Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE – +0.778
3. Nicolas SPINELLI – ITA – HP Pons Los40 – +0.962
4. Matteo FERRARI – ITA – Felo Gresini MotoE – +1.014
MotoE Top 4 – Championship Points after Race 1 – Italian GP
1. Jordi TORRES – SPA – Openbank Aspar Team – 88pts
2. Matteo FERRARI – ITA – Felo Gresini MotoE – 74pts
3. Randy KRUMMENACHER – SWI – Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE – 65pts
4. Hector GARZO – SPA – Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE – 59pts
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