With rain in the air but slicks on the bikes, it was a tricky first qualifying of the new era – but Ferrari came out on top as we bid farewell to the lap record on Friday.
Day 1 of the 2023 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Championship kicked off with an immediate arrivederci to the old lap record, with P1 seeing it fall by over 1.2 seconds as Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) started the weekend in style. In P2 the field went even quicker with Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE™) topping the timesheets, and the Italian nearly, nearly bettered it again in qualifying despite some drops of rain. He takes the first pole of the new era and the first with Ducati, joined on the front row by Garzo and two-time Cup winner Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) – and the three were covered by just 0.025!
After a dry Q1 gave way to ominous skies, the Q2 runners piled out of pitlane in a rush to set a lap and the red sectors lit up the timing screens. But Ferrari kept his advantage from practice to just hold on to pole by 0.022, despite a more adventurous end to the session with a tip off at Turn 3. No harm done, no one could quite better it regardless.
Garzo did leapfrog Torres, however, with Randy Krummenacher (Dynavolt Intact MotoE™) slotting into fourth to head the second row on his MotoE™ debut. Kevin Manfredi (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) and rookie Nicolas Spinelli (HP Pons Los40) complete that Row 2, demoting former Le Mans winner Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) to seventh.
Tune in for the first super Saturday of the new MotoE™ era tomorrow, with both races book-ending the new Tissot Sprint. They’re sure to be showstoppers, so join us at 12:10 (GMT +2) for Race 1 before the second showdown fires up at 16:10!
MotoE Top 4 – Combined Qualifying – French GP
1. Matteo FERRARI – ITA – Felo Gresini MotoE – 1’40.971
2. Hector GARZO – SPA – Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE – +0.022
3. Jordi TORRES – SPA – Openbank Aspar Team – +0.025
4. Randy KRUMMENACHER – SWI – Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE – +0.509
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