With the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring begins the last phase of the MotoE 2022; will Dominique Aegerter be able to take advantage of the first match point to win the world title in the MotoGP electric class?
MotoE 2022, Austrian GP - The first part of the 2022 season of the MotoE World Cup ended with Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) with a 31,5 point lead over his closest rival Eric Granado (LCR E-Team). With two rounds and four races still to go with a total of 100 points up for grabs, the Swiss rider has a potential match point in race 2 at the Red Bull Ring. To win the MotoE World Cup, Aegerter should have more than 50 points ahead of second in the standings at the end of the Austrian round.
Dominique Aegerter has had an exceptional season so far; after taking third and second places in the overall standings at the end of the previous two seasons, this year the Swiss rider has taken the provisional leadership of the championship with three wins and four second places in eight races.
Recent results and Aegerter's consistency make him the favorite, but Granado is the winner of the last race before the summer break, characterized by a dramatic stop-start-stop at TT Circuit Assen. In Austria, will Granado be able to precede Aegerter to the finish line as he did last year and reduce the gap in the standings to play for everything in the San Marino GP?
Granado moved to Lucio Cecchinello's LCR team this year to aim decisively at the title of the MotoE. Compared to the past, the Brazilian rider has become more consistent, scoring points in all races. Granado is probably the fastest rider in the MotoE, with his six pole positions and eleven fastest laps, but this year, at speed, he added consistency. Three wins and two other podiums in 2022 allowed the Brazilian rider to keep pace with Aegerter, aiming to play all the cards for the title at the Red Bull Ring and in the final round at Misano.
In third place in the standings, there is Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE). The Italian rider is a veteran of the MotoE and one of the four riders to have competed in all editions of the championship together with Eric Granado, Maria Herrera and Mattia Casadei.
Ferrari has to earn something on Aegerter to keep the hopes of winning the 2022 title alive. The Italian rider is 45,5 points behind and can count on the title of King of Misano, that he built in the electric series, to recover points in the GP of San Marino, but to be able to play his cards, the Italian must first secure important points in Austria.
Behind Ferrari, we find Mattia Casadei (Pons Racing 40), in need of a dose of luck after demonstrating remarkable speed in 2022, and Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) who recovered after the scary accident in The Netherlands. Niccolò Canepa (WithU GRT RNF MotoE) is lurking behind Pons to enter the Top5 in the standings, after having secured his first MotoE career podium in Le Mans. Hector Garzò (Tech 3 E-Racing) is also expected to make a comeback in the standings, after having so far collected results that are below expectations. The Valencian rider, in the only race held with the MotoE in Austria, in 2019, was leading the race with just a few corners to go before falling due to the wet track and retiring.
MotoE World Cup 2022
The overall standings
For the double World Cup winner, Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) and for Bradley Smith (WithU GRT RNF MotoE), the summer break has certainly served to heal and get back in shape, after the injuries that affected their first part of the season. What will they be able to do at the Red Bull Ring? The Spaniard in Austria took seventh place last year while Smith has a podium to his credit on this track, achieved in 2019.
Another rider who has a good result to his credit on the Spielberg circuit is Hikari Okubo, fifth in the 2022 edition of the Austrian GP. Among the riders who could get a good result at the Red Bull Ring are Kevin Zannoni, who achieved his first Top 10 here last year, and Marc Alcoba, who has already been protagonist in the rounds at Mugello and Assen.
Among the unknowns of the 2022 Austrian GP will be the weather, which, as always, is expected to be very changeable over the mountains around Spielberg, and the new chicane that replaces turn 2. The new chicane for the 2022 MotoGP at Red Bull Ring is made up of two fast 90-degree curves that represent a new challenge for the skills of the riders of all classes of the World Championship.
MotoE World Cup 2022
The new chicane at the Red Bull Ring for the 2022 season
MotoE World Cup 2022
The schedule and TV timetable of the Austrian GP
MotoE World Cup 2022
Alex De Angelis explains how to ride the MotoE at the Red Bull Ring
Photos: MotoGP
News and insights on Epaddock
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