In the French GP of MotoE 2024 it comes the first podium for Kevin Zannoni with the Openbank Aspar team. In race 1, the Italian rider recovered eight positions to reach the second step of the podium. Upsidedown weekend for Jordi Torres.
The Openbank Aspar Team achieved its first podium of the 2024 season in the French GP thanks to a great comeback by Kevin Zannoni, who recovered eight positions to finish second at the finish line. For the Italian rider, it is his best result so far in MotoE with the Aspar team. Zannoni, who started from tenth position due to an accident in qualifying, was the author of a great comeback, finishing just one second behind the winner, Nicholas Spinelli. Zannoni showed excellent pace right from the start, and on the first lap, he was already in sixth place. As the laps passed, the Openbank Aspar Team rider gained many positions and engaged in an intense battle with Mattia Casadei for second place. Victory went to Nicholas Spinelli, while Héctor Garzó, author of the pole position, crashed while they were fighting for the lead.
In the second race, Spinelli repeated the victory after a good duel with Casadei, who finished second, while Óscar Gutiérrez completed the podium. In race two, Kevin Zannoni only managed to finish ninth. The Italian recovered some positions in the first laps and reached sixth place, but a long lap penalty for cutting a chicane affected his race and prevented him from repeating the comeback of the first race. With second and ninth places in the French Grand Prix, Zannoni is now third in the World Championship, 30 points behind leader Casadei and 28 points behind second-placed Spinelli. Jordi Torres also had a better first race than the second at Le Mans. Torres was close to the podium in race one, crossing the finish line in fourth place, just over a tenth of a second from the podium. In the second race, Torres fought in the chasing group, but on the last lap, when he was in sixth position, he crashed. This marked the end of a weekend for the Spanish rider in which he never felt completely at ease on the bike. Now the MotoE moves to Spain, where the Catalan Grand Prix, Jordi Torres' home race, will take place in two weeks.
Kevin Zannoni (Openbank Aspar Team rider)
“It has been a good weekend. We have got a great podium in the first race, which is very difficult in this category starting from tenth position. The race has been perfect. The team deserved this result after the hard work they have done during the night to repair the bike. With the second race I am a bit disappointed. I always have had a good pace, but the track conditions have changed, which has made it difficult for me on the first lap. Also, I have had to do a long lap penalty, which I have not understood. I think they should have asked me to give up one position. This has conditioned the whole race and I could only finish ninth, but I have been able to score points.”
Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team rider)
“It has been a bittersweet weekend. Fourth position in the first race is good, but I have not felt completely comfortable during the Grand Prix. In the race I have seen that we are competitive, but it is difficult for me to make the bike go faster on the straight, I always end up losing ground and I have to recover in the braking. In the second race I have not modified anything on the bike because our set-up was very competitive, but I have felt that I was being slower and I have suffered. I have crashed on the last lap, maybe because I have taken risks and what could have been a fifth or a sixth it has ended up being a DNF. We have to keep our heads down and keep working.”
MotoE World Championship
The standings of the MotoE 2024
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