Here we go! It’s the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Championship’s first ever visit to Silverstone, and it’s also the first time ever the track will host any kind of electric race.
The stage is set for a spectacular return from summer break, and ahead of track action beginning on Friday morning, some of the key protagonists so far sat down to go over key talking points: Championship leader Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team), closest challenger Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE™) and third overall Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™).
JORDI TORRES: “It’s incredible. To ride here at Silverstone, that’s such a long track and also is a difficult track that has many corners and many technical corners including high-speed corners and slow corners. But anyway, this year we have a bike good enough to do long races here. After the holidays, we’re trying to be in our best phase to arrive here with many options to be able to fight for the championship. We know the potential of Ferrari, who also wants to steal some points to be able to arrive at the final round with many options. For sure, we must try to stop him to stay on top. Yes, in these kinds of corners will see how our riding style is because you know it’s the first time here in Silverstone, it is a new one for everyone. I haven’t ridden here for nine years. It’s a fantastic track, we’ve seen also that the asphalt and the tarmac seem very good in all conditions. We’ll see, I tried to do my best in the holidays. I trained a lot in SIM racing, also with the MotoGP videogame. Tomorrow at 8:30 we will see how the performance is after a lot of training with video games.”
What’s the game plan?
“Yeah, the goal at the moment is to see how is the performance of Ferrari. When Matteo knows his potential and tries to squeeze the lap times 100%, it’s very difficult to beat him. Yes, we’re concentrating on this because if we can have more confidence than him, for sure we need more confidence than him. I think. Yes, the only option is to get our elbows out, to fight, to be more aggressive, but always with a lot of respect. For sure, showing as much battle as possible is good for everyone, but everyone wants to win and we’ll see what happens.”
MATTEO FERRARI: “I’m really happy about how the first part of the season’s gone. We were fast every track and this is very important for the championship. At the moment I want to think race by race because it’s still possible to achieve 200 points before the end of the championship which is a lot of points. At the moment the feeling with the bike is incredible and also with the team. We worked a lot during the test and I think we have a good base for every track for sure. Silverstone’s a new track for MotoE. The last time I was here was in 2015 with Moto3, so it’s a little bit different, but I’ve loved this track since the first time I rode it, for sure. I want to start it in a good way and we’ll have to see the weather and to see what the conditions are of the asphalt, because it’s different from the last time that I rode here. But yeah, I’m feeling good and I want to continue with this speed also this weekend.”
What’s making the difference?
“In my opinion, the calendar has changed a lot as well as the points of the championship, because this year we have 16 races. In my opinion, it’s better because I can push every time in the best way, 100% every time, and I don’t have to think a lot about the championship. I crashed for example at race one in Le Mans, but I can now reset and already think about race 2. So this format is better for me and also this calendar because every. Every time the race is very close to each other, so I think it’s a good combination of things. Also, I work a lot, like every year, and like everybody. But for sure this winter it was really important for me because I change something in the way I work and I think it’s a good way to achieve this result.”
HECTOR GARZO: “I’m happy to be back after this summer break. At the end of the first part of the season was a little bit difficult, as you say. For me, the first race in Germany was tough and we were losing some important points there. Also, the weekend in Assen was a little bit difficult for me. I think that for me now it is a little bit better because we don’t need to manage the pressure as much anymore, which could be a way to catch them, but anything can happen, you know. We still have the same amount of races as the beginning and anything can happen. New tracks like Silverstone for example, will change the game a little bit because it’s a long track and it’s difficult, but we will see how it how it will go here. I’d like to try and keep focussed and keep everything on these races in the second-half of the season to try and catch them, and anything can happen so we’ll see.”
Do you think your recent experience of Silverstone will make a difference?
“I don’t think so. We’ve seen Jordi at other races where he hasn’t been there for nine years and then he wins the race. So it’s not the main difference I think, but for sure I know that this track is difficult and its long. We will see the weather conditions and how they are and we will try to keep the focus.”
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