MotoE in Assen - Eric Granado is back to victory in the Dutch GP. In Race 1, Granado reaches the finish line behind Aegerter while in Race 2 it is the rider of the LCR team who overtakes the Swiss and conquers the victory. Race 2 unlucky for Miquel Pons, involved in a terrifying accident.

MotoE in Assen - The two races of the Dutch GP, fourth round of the MotoE 2022 at the Assen circuit, once again showed how close the fight for leadership of the electric category of MotoGP is. In both races, Eric Granado was the protagonist of heated battles with Dominique Aegerter, leader of the standings, and with Matteo Ferrari, direct pursuer of Granado.
In Race 1, Granado passed under the checkered flag in second position, overtaking Mattia Casadei just before the finish line. The Brazilian rider missed 72 thousandths to overtake Aegerter and win the race.
In Race 2 the order of arrival was reversed, with Granado preceding Aegerter at the finish. Race 2 was interrupted by the red flag after a few laps, due to the terrifying accident of Miquel Pons, who broke two vertebrae, fortunately without spinal cord injury. For Pons, the recovery time should be around two weeks.
After the Dutch GP, the LCR duo is confirmed in second and fifth position in the overall standings, with Eric Granado at 31.5 points from the leader of the category and Miquel Pons behind by 79 points.

Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) - 1st and 2nd in the Dutch GP of the MotoE
“Friday was a positive day for us, but with few laps: we were competitive in both conditions, wet and dry; we were satisfied with the work done. Unfortunately there was no FP2 due to bad weather conditions, so we didn't do dry laps.
Saturday was a good race, a good battle: it was certainly good to see on TV! I was very competitive throughout the race; I made a good start and fought in the leading group. Unfortunately, with only two laps to go, Aegerter aggressively overtook me at the last corner and I lost a lot of time. I started the last lap with a big gap from the leaders: I pushed hard to fill the gap, I made a great last corner and I got 2nd place. Victory was not possible, but it was really nice to get another podium ”.

“Sunday was fantastic to win the race, but it was also strange to win like this, due to a red flag after 3 laps. From the beginning I thought I had to stay in front as much as possible, because I knew that a red flag could come due to the weather conditions. Unfortunately the red flag was due to the crash of my teammate (Miquel Pons) and I really hope he is well. I want to thank my team, we deserve this victory. I slept on Saturday with a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth after finishing second, but today we made it, we won. I know they'll give us half the points, but a win is always good. I am very happy and I hope to be able to continue like this also in the next races.”

Miquel Pons (LCR E-TEAM) - 6th and NC in the Dutch GP of MotoE
“The first day here was difficult: FP1 was completely wet, FP2 was canceled and the first time we could try the dry track was in Q2. We did a good qualifying, maybe we still need to improve some aspects of the bike and some details in the setting, but I was quite happy because starting from the second row is very important.
On Sunday I struggled a bit in the first few laps. When I finally had a better feeling, there were several overtakes in front of me, I couldn't find a gap and I lost some time. In the end I got a sixth place, so I collected more points for the classification and I gained more experience.”

The next round of the MotoE World Cup is after the summer break, from August 19th to 21st, on the Austrian Red Bull Ring track.

Photos: motogp.com and Aspar Team

To be updated on MotoE World Cup, subscribe to Epaddock's Whatsapp broadcast and receive all our news on your mobile phone in real time: find out how here.