GP of France of the MotoE - Casadei wins race 1 at Le Mans ahead of Aegerter and Okubo. On the Le Mans circuit, the Italian rider achieves his first victory in MotoE. Crash at the last corner for Zannoni when he was second.
On the Le Mans circuit, Mattia Casadei (Pons Racing 40) won the first race of the French GP of the MotoE World Cup 2022. The Italian rider arrived first at the finish line followed by Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) and the Japanese Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE). Casadei scored his first career victory in MotoE after several podiums achieved in recent years. First podium in MotoE also for Hikari Okubo.
At the start the fastest is Kevin Zannoni (Sic58 Squadra Corse) who goes in the lead followed by Casadei, Okubo and Aegerter. Behind them Torres crashes at the exit of the first chicane. The Spanish rider is hit in the legs by Canepa's and Fores' bikes following him. Torres is taken to the medical center for a checkup where the fibula fracture of his left leg will be found.
In the lead meanwhile, at the exit from the chicane, Casadei overtakes Zannoni and take an advantage, gaining a few tenths on his pursuers. Okubo follows the Italian duo with 1 second ahead of Aegerter, Escrig, Ferrari and Granado. On the second lap Escrig makes a mistake at turn 9, rejoining the track in seventh position.
On the third lap Ferrari chases Aegerter but fails to keep the pace of the Swiss rider who pushes hard to recover the gap from the top three. Meanwhile, Marc Alcoba crashes at turn 12.
Five laps to go, a group is formed fighting for fifth place, made up of Ferrari, Granado, Escrig, Garzò and Pons. In the meantime, Zannoni recovers a few tenths on Casadei. With four laps to go, the advantage of the Pons team rider is only 360 thousandths over Zannoni while Okubo is 1 second behind. Fourth position for Aegerter while Ferrari consolidates his fifth place by detaching the riders who follow him.
With three laps to go, Zannoni closes the gap with Casadei and the two Italian riders lead the race at close range. Meanwhile Aegerter tries to recover a place on the podium by lapping in 1:43.5, four tenths from Okubo who precedes him. In the same lap, long lap penalty for Escrig.
The riders cross the finish line with two laps still to be completed. Casadei and Zannoni form the leading duo while behind them Aegerter closes the gap with Okubo and overtakes him in the braking to the first chicane. Ferrari also tries to recover the gap with Okubo, turning in 1:43.8.
At the beginning of the last lap, Zannoni is closed to Casadei but the Pons team rider closes all the lines perfectly. Zannoni makes a first attempt at braking at turn 9 and a second at turn 11 but Casadei closes all the lines. The Sic58 team rider makes a last attempt at the inlet of turn 12 trying to replicate last year's winning overtaking by Granado on Zaccone. Casadei, however, brakes to the limit and leaves no room for Zannoni who, in an attempt to recover the trajectory, loses grip on the front and crashes.
Mattia Casadei passes first under the checkered flag achieveing his first victory in MotoE. On the podium also Dominique Aegerter and Hikari Okubo. For the Japanese rider it is the first podium in MotoE.
Matteo Ferrari ends fourth in front of Hector Garzò and Miquel Pons. Eric Granado is seventh and precedes the duo of the WithU GRT RNF team MotoE formed by Niccolò Canepa and Andrea Mantovani. Closes the Top 10 Alex Escrig.
In the overall classification Granado is always first with 59 points ahead of Aegerter with 53 and Mattia Casadei with 41.
Tomorrow at 15:30 the start of Race 2 with the same starting grid.
| POS. | N. | Nat. | Rider | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 |  |
Mattia CASADEI | Pons Racing 40 | 13,54.984 | |
| 2 | 77 |  |
Dominique AEGERTER | Dynavolt Intact GP | 13,55.810 | 0,826 |
| 3 | 78 |  |
Hikari OKUBO | Avant Ajo MotoE | 13,56.207 | 1,223 |
| 4 | 11 | |
Matteo FERRARI | FELO Gresini MotoE | 13,56.685 | 1,701 |
| 5 | 4 |  |
Hector GARZO | Tech3 E-Racing | 14,00.738 | 5,754 |
| 6 | 71 | |
Miquel PONS | LCR E-Team | 14,01.373 | 6,389 |
| 7 | 51 |  |
Eric GRANADO | LCR E-Team | 14,01.902 | 6,918 |
| 8 | 7 | |
Niccolo CANEPA | WithU GRT RNF MotoE Team | 14,02.092 | 7,108 |
| 9 | 9 | |
Andrea MANTOVANI | WithU GRT RNF MotoE Team | 14,03.568 | 8,584 |
| 10 | 17 | |
Alex ESCRIG | Tech 3 E-racing | 14,03.697 | 8,713 |
| 11 | 18 |  |
Xavier CARDELUS | Avintia Esponsorama Team | 14,05.379 | 10,395 |
| 12 | 12 | |
Xavi FORES | OCTO Pramac MotoE | 14,06.086 | 11,102 |
| 13 | 34 | |
Kevin MANFREDI | OCTO PRAMAC MotoE | 14,06.711 | 11,727 |
| 14 | 6 | |
Maria HERRERA | Zinia Aspar Team | 14,07.965 | 12,981 |
| 15 | 72 | |
Alessio FINELLO | FELO Gresini MotoE | 14,17.109 | 22,125 |
| 16 | 21 | |
Kevin ZANNONI | Ongetta Sic58 Squadra Corse | 14,35.621 | 40,637 |
| nd | 70 | |
Marc ALCOBA | Zinia Aspar Team | 3,37.283 | 0,000 |
| nd | 40 | |
Jordi TORRES | Pons Racing 40 | nd | 0,000 |
Photos: motogp.com
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