A month has passed since the first race at the Sachsenring and now is the time for the second race of the MotoE World Cup. The weekend at the Red Bull Ring started with the rain and the press conference of five pilots: Niki Tuuli (Ajo MotoE), Bradley Smith (One Energy Racing), Mike Di Meglio (EG0,0 Marc VDS), Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) and Alex De Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE).
The first to talk was the leader of the World Cup, Niki Tuuli (here the card of the pilot of the Ajo team MotoE): "Like I always say, we've been in the top three in almost every session this year and we'll try to continue like this and consistently be in the top three in every session, and also in qualifying we'll try to do as we did last time. That's our plan, so we try to continue like this. This first weekend was really good for us, we have good pace for the bike and with this bike, I don't think the changes are such a big difference and I think we have good pace for every weekend, I feel really good on the bike and that's the main thing."
“I think this track will be a bit more difficult for me, there are a lot of difficult braking points and even at Sachsenring I didn't feel very comfortable under braking. I think the other riders in the leading group were better than me in braking. But there are not only braking but also fast corners, where I feel good. We'll see, we have to find a compromise between braking and fast corners; I hope to be in the top three from the first session. "
After Tuuli it was the turn of Bradley Smith, one of the few pilots of the MotoE to have experience on the Austrian circuit (here the Smith card): "It's nice to keep the momentum going, a lot of guys have been riding - some in Suzuka, some in the CEV, so it's just getting back on the bike and getting things going. The layout of this track is definitely going to be tricky, I'm not sure so much in the Free Practice and qualifying but in the race situation considering the nature of the track with slipstream, I think gearing could be crucial this weekend, finding the right balance there, but in general I'm looking forward to getting back out there, Michelin have introduced the slightly harder rear tyre option for this weekend which I slightly preferred from the test so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out this weekend."
Of opinion similar to Smith is Mike Di Meglio (here the French driver card): “The characteristics of the Red Bull Ring will make the challenge interesting. There will be a lot of hard braking here, and a lot of fighting. At the Sachsenring I felt good in the hard braking sections, but a little slower than Niki in the fast corners. Here we have to see why each track is different, and we need to understand how the grip will be on this track. We aim to be at the front of the pack and improve session after session. I don't think it's a very complicated track, many riders have come here to train to understand the track. After a few laps you understand where to go, where to switch off and where to accelerate. It is not like in the Sachsenring where it is important to understand where to put the wheel. But, I repeat, we have to work session after session and see if any new riders reach the top. "
Matteo Ferrari (this is his card) was the first press conference of the category, these are the words of the rider from Rimini: “During the tests in Valencia and in the race at Sachsenring we improved a lot. I'm happy with this because the gap from the leading group is very small. This track is new for me, I only did two days of testing but it's not a difficult track. We'll see. With this bike, every track is different, I have to improve and learn from the riders in the first group! It is difficult to say who the main rivals will be because each track is different, but obviously Niki will be fast, and I hope to start better in the first tests and make the most of FP3, one more free session is definitely better. "
Finally he spoke Alex De Angelis, one of the most experienced pilots participating in the MotoE (here his card): “I have a lot of experience but I couldn't expect how it would be to ride this bike! It's a completely different style and different to what you'd expect at the beginning. But it's still a bike and the winner is the one who goes fastest! So we're trying to understand it, we can't do many things to the bike so the ones going faster now it's because they found the way or because their style is good for the bike. There is something you can find to help you a lot to make a step and that's what we're looking for. So immediately tomorrow we'll try a different setup to what we had in Germany to try and improve and get a perfect style and bike together. FP3 is really important because I don't know the track. I came here a few weeks ago with a road bike to understand the track but of course it's not enough because the E-bike is completely different. So we can really use FP3 to improve, because tomorrow morning in FP1 we'll lose to learning the track and understanding the bike. So to have another session and have chance to improve the session is really important for us.”
Here you can see the schedule of MotoE during the weekend in Austria (link)
To see how the race was at Sachsenring last month, here is the dedicated section (link)
