The Swiss rider will start from the front for another match point at Misano – with Granado fourth.
Dominique Aegerter took a big step towards the 2022 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup with pole position for both races in the final round of the season at the Gran Premio Gryfyn di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. The Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™ rider’s 1:43.174 in Q2 sees him secure top spot by a margin of almost a quarter of a second. Perhaps more importantly, the only other rider left in contention for the Cup, the LCR E-Team’s Eric Granado, is set to start from Row 2 after qualifying fourth fastest… although the Brazilian has won from there before this season more than once. Pons Racing 40’s Mattia Casadei and Jordi Torres, meanwhile, complete the front row as the former shows top pace on home turf and the latter gets back to the front at his favourite track on the calendar.
In Q2, Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE™) set the initial pace with a 1:43.652, but when Granado posted his first laptime, the Brazilian went fastest on a 1:43.451. The Brazilian did not hold onto top spot for long, however, with Casadei clocking a 1:43.415 before Aegerter went just two thousandths of a second quicker again.
Casadei then looked like reclaiming the ascendancy, going fastest in the third sector only to lose the front and crash at the Carro corner (Turn 14). The incident triggered a yellow flag which meant Granado’s next lap would not count, although he had seemed unlikely to improve on that lap.
Next time round and with the chequered flag out, Granado went event quicker but Torres pipped him to the front row with a 1:43.442. The head of the grid will therefore be Aegerter with Casadei and Torres alongside, while Granado heads up Row 2, where he will be joined by Ferrari in fifth and Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) in sixth.
Niccolo Canepa (WithU GRT RNF MotoE™ Team), Alex Escrig (Tech3 E-Racing), Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), and Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) rounded out the top 10, the latter two having come from Q1. Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE™) was second in that session when the chequered flag came out but would be bumped down by Zannoni and will therefore start 11th, with Kevin Manfredi (Octo Pramac MotoE™) joining them on Row 4.
With just two races to go in the 2022 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup, Aegerter leads Granado by 17.5 points. Will the Swiss rider be able to push that margin past 25 in Race 1 of the Misano weekend and clinch the title with his first ‘match point’? You cannot afford to miss the opening encounter on Saturday afternoon from 16:25 (GMT +2), before Race 2 on Sunday at 15:30!
MotoE™ front row
1 Dominique Aegerter – Dynavolt Intact GP – Energica – 1’43.174
2 Mattia Casadei – Pons Racing 40 – Energica – +0.241
3 Jordi Torres – Pons Racing 40 – Energica – +0.268
Dominique Aegerter: “We improved step-by-step. For sure, it’s important to start from the front row, so pole position is the best way to start. In Spielberg when I started from positive five, I had not so good first laps, so I could not really fight for the victory. Now, when I make a good start, a good first lap, for sure I can try to fight for the victory. The Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™ team has done a fantastic job, they improved the bike step-by-step, and this afternoon in qualifying I had a very good feeling, so I could push to my limit, to the bike’s limit, and it feels great to ride like this. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and Sunday. I hope that the sun comes out like this and not like strange weather, but I will enjoy a lot racing here in Misano again with a lot of Italian and Swiss fans. So, I will try to give them a good show and I hope maybe we can close out the championship already tomorrow.”
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