Le Mans, theater of historic battles and milestone of the MotoGP, which disputes its 1000th Grand Prix. But that’s not all, the new MotoE season has begun on the French track, which marks the transition from Energica to Ducati. The first round took place this weekend, marked by the victories of Jordi Torres and Matteo Ferrari, respectively in Race 1 and in Race 2.
It is the veterans who win the first two races of the Ducati era, if in the first heat Ferrari makes a mistake and gives way to the two-time world champion, in the afternoon race he redeems himself and, despite a Long Lap Penalty, triumphs, ending the weekend with a bang . The opening race of the season was an elimination race, with only 12 riders crossing the finish line. Right at the checkered flag, Torres mocked Garzo, winning by 92 thousandths of a second, after a great fight.
Thus the great favorite of the race remains in second position, ahead of his teammate Randy Krummenacher, excellent third on his debut. Kevin Zannoni remains at the foot of the podium, fourth and best of the Italians, while Hikari Okubo is fifth. Tito Rabat closes Race 1 in sixth position, ahead of the Italian platoon that completes the top 10: Kevin Manfredi is seventh and Alessandro Zaccone is eighth. The two of me are also serving a Long Lap Penalty for cutting turns 9 and 10 and turn 4 respectively. The top 10 is closed by Alessio Finello, ninth, and Luca Salvadori, tenth.
Matteo Ferrari is forced to serve a Long Lap Penalty in Race 2 for having crashed under the yellow flag in the first heat. Despite this, he begins his comeback and overtakes first Garzo and then Torres, to go on to win with a lead of seven tenths over the Spaniard. Ferrari thus becomes the first Italian to triumph (and consequently to get on the podium) in the Ducati era, also giving the Gresini team the 200th podium (total, adding up all the classes).
Torres closes Race 2 in second position ahead of Garzo, third. Excellent performance by Mattia Casadei, who redeems himself after the crash in Race 1 and concludes the afternoon heat in fourth position, ahead of Nicholas Spinelli, who also crashed in the morning and fifth in the final race of the weekend. Andrea Mantovani’s debut was not the best, a crash in Race 1 deprived him of the fight, but in Race 2 he won the top 6.
A step back for Randy Krummenacher, who after the podium remains delayed and passes under the checkered flag in seventh position, ahead of Kevin Zannoni, eighth. The top 10 is closed by Alessandro Zaccone and Hikari Okubo, ninth and tenth respectively. So are the other Italians: Alessio Finelo is 11th, while Luca Salvadori is 13th. Kevin Manfredi does not see the checkered flag.
