MotoE was back on track in France, for the first round of the 2025 season. In the two races at the Le Mans circuit, victory went to Oscar Gutierrez and Mattia Casadei. Here our analysis of the two debut races of the season.
When a new season of a sporting competition begins, the results of the first round can be distorted by several factors. In WSBK for example, when the first race is at Phillip Island, we often see things that are not repeated during the season. After the French GP we have prepared a ten-point analysis, we will see how many survive after the next rounds of the MotoE World Championship.
In this season opener at Le Mans, the protagonists and stories were many, so let's start, not necessarily in order of importance.
1 – Let's start with the two riders who were injured at Le Mans. We are talking about Eric Granado and Oscar Gutierrez. The former crashed at the entrance to the Chemin aux Boeufs. The crash had no particular consequences and the Brazilian LCR E-Team rider immediately got up to leave the escape route. The story would have ended here if Raffaele Fusco's “shaken” bike had not come up behind him. The Sic58 Squadra Corse rider crashed in the same spot as Granado and his Ducati V21L hit the Brazilian in the legs, causing a broken tibia. The dynamics of the accident could have had far more serious consequences had Granado not already been on his feet.
2 – Even more frightening was the accident of Oscar Gutierrez, who slipped at the Dunlop Chicane and was run over by the blameless Alessandro Zaccone. Fortunately the collision occurred at low speed but still cost Gutierrez a fractured pelvis. Again, the consequences could have been far more serious for the MSI Racing rider.
3 – Gutierrez's crash in race two deprived the Spaniard of the chance to score his first MotoE double of the season. After his victory in Race 1, Gutierrez had started well from the front row and had taken the lead to aim for victory in Race 2 as well. The one-two was within reach of the MSI team rider, a great protagonist of the last championship and the best rookie in 2024. The long break before the MotoE Dutch GP should be enough for Gutierrez to recover from his injury and return to the front row immediately at Assen.
4 – One rider who took advantage of his rivals' misfortunes to rack up some serious championship points was Mattia Casadei. The LCR E-Team rider is one of the favourites for the 2025 title and arrived at Le Mans with ambitions of victory. The first two free sessions had ended with the Italian rider first and author of the new track record, but a crash at the start of qualifying had forced him to start from tenth on the grid. In the race, however, Casadei made no mistakes and finished the first race in fifth position. In race 2, the Italian managed to climb all the positions that separated him from the race leader and passed first under the chequered flag. Despite the mistake in qualifying, Casadei leaves Le Mans leading the overall MotoE classification.
5 – A pole position, a third place and a retirement are the spoils of Alessandro Zaccone in France. An overall positive result, considering that the retirement was caused by a crash in which Zaccone was accidentally involved. As already shown last year, the Aruba Cloud team rider proved to be a specialist in qualifying, while in the race he still lacked something to fight for victory.
6 – Among the surprises of the French MotoE weekend were the two Kilnt Forward team riders. Andrea Mantovani set the fourth fastest time in qualifying and finished second in the race, bringing the Forward team its first podium in MotoE. In race 2 he was involved in Gutierrez's crash when he was in second position and found himself in the middle of the group, losing any chance of repeating the result of the first race.
Maria Herrera was also the author of a memorable weekend. The Toledo driver, starting from the third row of the grid, finished race 1 in eighth position but it was in race 2 that she put on a show. From the middle of the race onwards, Herrera carried out a series of overtaking moves that brought her close to the third step of the podium, won by Jordi Torres. For Maria Herrera, this fourth place represents her best result ever in MotoE.
7 – Without any particular spectacular peaks but with a lot of concreteness, the Aspar team leaves Le Mans with two podiums, thanks to Kevin Zannoni's second place and Jordi Torres' third, as well as the leadership in the MotoE team classification.
8 – Sixth and fifth place at the finish line are excellent results for Lorenzo Baldassarri on his MotoE debut. The new rider for the Dynavolt IntactGP team confirmed the good results obtained in pre-season testing and showed excellent pace in the race. It would not be surprising to see Baldassarri fighting for a place on the podium in the next races.
9 – Who was the author of a weekend to forget was Matteo Ferrari. The Team Felo Gresini rider crashed in both races while fighting for the podium in both situations. For Ferrari it is a double zero that forces him not to make any more mistakes this season.
10 – The last point concerns Hector Garzò, victim of the blackest misfortune. After the injury during the Barcelona test, Garzò was injured again at Le Mans, having to miss both races. For the MotoE 2024 champion, an uphill season to defend the title lies ahead.
For those who haven't seen the races MotoE at Le Mans, you can find them on the YouTube channel of the MotoE: www.youtube.com/@motoeofficial
MotoE World Championship
The standings of the MotoE 2025
Photos: MotoGP
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