The Ángel Nieto team presented itself to the tests of the MotoE in Valencia for the first time with the official livery characterized by the main sponsor Openbank. The two official drivers, Nico Terol and María Herrera, carried out three days of testing in preparation for the first race of the championship that will take place at the July 7 at the Sachsenring.
Both Terol and Herrera showed good pace from the start of the first day, completing the first day of testing in fifth and seventh position respectively. Originally from Valencia, Nico Terol was the third fastest in the morning session, half a second from the top. His teammate also turned in similar times.
On the second day there were two free sessions and the Epole, the superpole-style qualification with one lap each for each driver. Openbank drivers Ángel Nieto team qualified sixth and seventh, with Nico Terol setting a time of 1'41.674 one second off the best time of the day; his teammate María Herrera placed just 85 thousandths from Terol.
The first race simulation of the era took place on the last day of testing MotoE. The race was spectacular and the drivers battled it out for 7 laps (final time 11 minutes and 50 seconds) with numerous overtaking and no accidents. The driver from Valencia finished just eight tenths from the podium after the excellent starting point that had brought him to second position. Maria Herrera found herself last at the first corner due to an unlucky start. This did not prevent the young Spanish driver from pushing hard to catch up on Hook, Giberanu, Foray and Savadori, also making a spectacular double overtaking at turn 1.
These are the declarations of your Nieto team pilots at the end of the tests.
Nico Terol : "I'm really happy. I was nervous before the test because I hadn't raced for so many years, even though I know my level is still high, I just needed to see my name in the top. We have made a lot of progress from the last test in Jerez to today. On the second day we tried the start of the race and also the Epole system and I'm happy with how it went. In addition to qualifying, I worked to set the pace for the race and managed to improve by a second. I have been riding well, understanding the bike more and more. Regarding the race I was very happy with how it went, I have a lot of fun driving there MotoE. With this test I took a huge burden off my shoulders. It was a long time since I competed, it gave me a lot of strength and joy to see myself up there. I wanted to be competitive for the win, but I fought to the end for third place and never gave up. This fourth place is good, the progress from the first test to today has been fantastic. I'm looking forward to the race in Germany. This championship will be exciting and the fans will have fun ”.
Maria Herrera : “I started these tests very confident and I was able to get to know the bike very quickly. The team did a good job because they shifted the weight to the rear and now the bike runs much better. On the second day I had a good feeling that allowed me to get a good result in the Epole simulation. In the afternoon, however, the feeling was not the same as before and I risked crashing because I almost lost the front. The race simulation was very positive. We have shown that we can overtake and be fast. We could have fought for the top five because we had the pace and that motivates us a lot. We are doing a good job. In Jerez I had a lot of trouble also because I wasn't physically in place, but here everything went well, I felt very good on the bike. I think I can fight among the first and I am sure that this year I will have a lot of fun in MotoE".
Here the results of the Valencia race simulation (link)
