The CryptoDATA RNF MotoE team celebrated its first victory in the FIM Enel MotoE World Championship. At the Mugello circuit, Andrea Mantovani won in front of his home crowd after a spectacular duel with Matteo Ferrari and Mattia Casadei.
In the Italian GP, Andrea Mantovani brings the first victory in MotoE to the RNF team at his home circuit of Mugello. After qualifying yesterday with an excellent fifth position, Mantovani got off to a great start in the race. In the first sector, he was already in third position and from then on, he battled with Ferrari and Casadei for the first position for the remaining six laps. With a spectacular overtaking with three laps to go, the Italian took the lead of the race but was forced back to third with two laps to go, until he launched a last decisive attack on the last lap and managed to bring home for himself and the CryptoDATA RNF team the first win in MotoE.
Before the start of Race 2, the rain started to fall. In the fog of water, Mantovani had a problem with his helmet, with the visor fogging up continuously. The Italian managed to stay in a good fifth position until he touched the white line and crashed. Thanks to his 25 points in race one of the Italian GP, Mantovani has nonetheless climbed up from twelfth to sixth position in the general standings of the MotoE.
Mika Perez, on the other hand, struggled with his right arm all weekend. The Spaniard started from seventeenth position on the grid and tried to keep pace with the group in front of him. He crossed the finish line in sixteenth position. In the wet conditions in the second race, Perez was good at recovering position after position until the race was stopped due to a red flag. A good eighth-place finish was a good achievement for the Spanish rider. Now the RNF team moves to Germany for the two races at the Sachsenring this weekend.
Andrea Mantovani
“The first race was just perfect! I pushed very hard from the first to the final lap and I could win it! It was incredible. I don’t even remember when I won a race for the last time. I’m overwhelmed and super happy to get my first win here at home in Mugello. I was super happy about that. At the same time, I’m very sad about the second race. It wasn’t my fault, but the anti-fog system of my helmet didn’t work. At the middle of the race I pushed to close the gap to the front, but I couldn’t really see where I was going. It was so steamed up, I even opened the visor but it didn’t help as then the water came in. In the chicane, I touched the white line and the rear was gone. It’s a shame, as it was possible to do a good result in race two as well. The fifth place would have been a good position with important championship points. But I couldn’t do anything against it. I still want to thank the CryptoDATA RNF MotoE Team for this opportunity and can’t wait to be back in Sachsenring”.
Mika Perez
“I had some problems with my arm in race one. At the moment it's difficult for me, of course having to adapt to the bike makes it more difficult if you have a problem with the arm. We try to do our best in the race, I know the gap is quite big, and I need more laps and training but I'm getting used to the big bike and I know i can be faster. In race two, it was in wet conditions, which I felt much better as all the riders are more equal. I hope to do more and get a top 5, but PXNUMX is not bad for my first time in Mugello and also in the wet. I'm happy with the result and I'm sure if we keep working we will be closer to the top in the next races”.
Razlan Razali, CryptoDATA RNF MotoE Team Principal
“Today was a historical day for our MotoE team, this year with the Ducati MotoE bike, our rider Andrea Mantovani managed to score his first win for the team in a great commanding fashion in front of his home crowd and home GP. We are extremely happy with him and also very pleased, under the new guidance of our Team Manager Ramon Forcada, to get this first win for the team is a remarkable achievement and we are absolutely thrilled and happy with the result. For Mika, he has some physical condition relating to his arm, he struggled all weekend and could not get into the points.
Race 2 was a different situation, Andrea had a problem with his visor and with the heavy rain, it caused him to crash while in fifth position. On the other hand, Mika managed to recover with a solid XNUMXth position. So in general, it is a very good weekend for our MotoE team and we look forward for Sachsenring”.
Ramon Forcada, CryptoDATA RNF MotoE Team Manager
“We had our first victory for the team with Andrea. We were working a lot on the set up and finally found a good compromise. Race one has been very good and Andrea managed very well. In the second race, Andrea faced an issue with his helmet where it was completely foggy and this will need to be fixed in the next race in Sachsenring and Assen as the venue is known to rain quite often. For Mika, he is still struggling with his arm, he will get it checked this week to see what can be done. In race two, he was much better and struggled less, in the end he did a good result”.
MotoE World Championship
The standings of the 2023 championship
Photos: MotoGP
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