After the victory of Hector Garzò and the Dynavolt Intact GP team in the 2024 edition of the MotoE, what's new for 2025 for the MotoGP electric class? Let's see some of them.
The 6 edition of MotoE World Championship ended with the San Marino GP, on 7 and 2024 of September. The title went to the Spaniard Hector Garzò, who succeeded in the feat on his fourth attempt. The season was very exciting, with twists and turns throughout the sixteen races held in Portimao, Le Mans, Barcelona, Mugello, Assen, Sachsenring, Red Bull Ring and Misano.
After the first two rounds, in Portugal and France, it seemed that the fight for victory was narrowed down to the two riders who had shared the first four victories: Mattia Casadei and Nicholas Spinelli. MotoE, however, has always been characterized by great unpredictability and the following races have demonstrated this. First it was Kevin Zannoni's turn to take the lead in the standings, thanks to victories in Barcelona and Mugello, then it was Casadei's turn to return to the lead in the world championship, until the German GP, when Hector Garzò climbed the standings thanks to a double success at the Sachsenring. At that point the Spaniard no longer gave space to his opponents and won the title of MotoE in the last stage, in Misano.
Garzò had already attempted to take possession of the title of MotoE new 2019 and then in the two-year period 2022 and 2023, but without success. This year the Spaniard has made an important leap in performance and consistency of results, as demonstrated by the four victories and nine overall podiums achieved especially in the second part of 2024.
But, in addition to the title fight, MotoE this year has offered many other positive and negative surprises.
The main positive is certainly Oscar Gutierrez's season. The Spaniard, in his first full season in MotoE (last year he had only participated in two rounds), has had an exceptional performance, right from the first race weekend in Portimao. Of the sixteen races on the calendar, three have been won by Gutierrez (Barcelona, Red Bull Ring and Misano). The third place in the championship is even more surprising considering that the Spaniard had never raced on some of the tracks on the calendar.
Kevin Zannoni's season has also been very good and without the mistake in Race 1 at Misano, when he was firmly in the lead, the Italian rider would have deservedly finished on the third step of the final podium of the 2024 MotoE season. With his performance this season, Zannoni definitively places himself among the riders who can aim for the category title.
The same list also includes the two Tech3 E-Racing team drivers, Alessandro Zaccone and Nicholas Spinelli. The former had a disastrous start to the season but recovered well and performed well in the central part of the championship, taking the second race victory of his career in MotoESpinelli had the opposite performance, with a sprint start with three wins out of four races, and a central part of the season marked by many falls and very few points.
The list of underperformers includes Jordi Torres, Matteo Ferrari, Eric Granado and Chaz Davies. The two-time MotoE champion managed to recover from the bad start of the season with a good second half of the championship. This allowed him to climb the rankings little by little and close 2024 in sixth place. Ferrari had a similar path although more tiring. The champion of the MotoE 2019 was a long time in the middle of the pack, with seventh place as the best result of the first half of the season. From that point on, the Italian rider's performance improved slightly but, for the first time in his career, Ferrari ended the season without even a podium. While Torres' problems were mainly due to some crashes and a lack of speed, in Ferrari's case, the main issue was the difficulty in finding the basic setup of his Ducati V21L. Despite the MotoE being a single-make championship, it is essential to identify a good set-up right from the first pre-season tests so as not to find yourself chasing the others during the championship.
Eric Granado is the rider who has won the most races in MotoE, but this year the Brazilian has not managed to score even one victory. His 2024 has been a real upside-down, with podiums alternating with zeros. The LCR team rider has finished seven races without points, which is a real negative record. Lastly, we mention Chaz Davies, former Supersport world champion and winner of many races in the Superbike World Championship. Davies faced the MotoE two years after his farewell to racing, and for the whole season, he was unable to get in tune with the bike. His best result in the race was a ninth place while in the championship he finished second to last.
MotoE World Championship
The standings of the MotoE 2024
What are the news for 2025 for the MotoGP electric class?
The MotoE 2025 will be a championship in continuity with what was seen in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. There will always be eight rounds for sixteen races, most likely all in Europe. Portimao should be removed from the MotoGP calendar so the same will also happen for the MotoE. The start of season number seven of the MotoE could be in Jerez, a track that has been missing since the championship has been held with the Ducati V21L, while the conclusion would always be in Misano. No stages outside Europe are currently planned while the 'historical' circuits of the MotoE: Le Mans, Assen, Red Bull Ring and Misano precisely. The hope is to be able to see the MotoE on a new track like Brno, we'll see.
The race format will also remain the same, with practice sessions and qualifying on Friday and two races on Saturday, each lasting approximately 15 minutes.
While the adjustments on the calendar front will be minimal, important changes are expected on the motorbike front. Ducati has a four-year motorcycle supply contract (2023 – 2026); for the first two years the model was the V21L while for the two-year period 2025-2026 the motorcycle will be improved, in particular the battery.
In these two years Ducati has tested and evaluated different types of cells for the new MotoE; those selected will have a higher energy density that will allow to reduce the weight of the battery and therefore lighten the bike by about 8 kg. The improved performance of the new cells could have been used to extend the duration of the race but Dorna is interested in this direction. For the championship promoter it is a priority to reduce the weight of the bike, especially for safety reasons, while longer races would have the disadvantage of making it even more difficult to fit in all the sessions on the track of the MotoE and other categories in a crowded race weekend. The chosen direction was, therefore, to have bikes with the same range but lighter and faster.
There could also be some news on the aerodynamics front; internal tests with test-rider Alex De Angelis have been done but it has not yet been decided whether these new components will be adopted or not. The new version of the MotoE di Ducati for 2025 it could therefore have a weight close to 215 kg and lower lap times, getting even closer to Moto2 performance.
If you missed the races of the MotoE 2024, remember that they are available for free on the YouTube channel of the MotoE.
Post-article note: Dorna Sport and Autodromo do Algarve have finally reached an agreement for 2025-2026 so, next year, the Portuguese circuit will regularly host the Portuguese GP. It remains to be decided whether the MotoE will take part in the Portuguese round or not.
Photos: MotoGP
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