The Finn Niki Tuuli wins the first race of the MotoE World Cup on the German Sachsenring track. On the podium Bradley Smith and Mike di Meglio. Excellent race by Mattero Ferrari and Alex De Angelis.
Four months ago the entire paddock of the MotoE it was burned in Jerez de la Fronteira; nothing had been saved: motorcycles, overalls, computers. After less than four months, everything returned perfectly to its place thanks to an enormous effort of the organization of the championship and of Energica, the Modena-based company that builds MotoE.
The race was won by Niki Tuuli of the Ajo Motorsport team: Finnish driver with Finnish team. In second place came Bradley Smith (One Energy Racing), English, who started from seventh on the grid. Third on arrival was the French Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 MarcVDS), the fastest in the Friday sessions.
Due to the wet track due to the rain of the night, the race was declared 'wet' and consequently shortened by one lap from 8 to 7. Tuuli and Garzó (Tech3 E-Racing) start well but Bradley Smith did the best start, gaining 5 positions and immediately taking second place. Eric Granado, the winner of the simulated Valencia race, who started third, finds himself at the back of the group for a contact at the first corner. In the very first positions there is also Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) and Alex De Angelis (OctoPramac MotoE), also the author of a perfect start. Good also the starting point of Sete Gibernau who from the bottom of the starting grid found himself not far from the group of the first. The British driver of the One Energy team immediately tried to escape but was picked up by Tuuli and Di Meglio. Among numerous overtakes, leading the race alternated in 4: Tuuli, Smith, Di Meglio and Garzó. Behind them, Mattero Ferrari tries to recover, but he is unable to fill the last tenths that separate him from the leading group. Frankly we lose the account of overtaking among the first 3 while the Tech3 team driver remains in fourth position waiting to attack in the final.
Where flyways are big is between Alex De Angelis and Xavier Simeon (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), with the San Marino that eventually the check on the Belgian driver and closes sixth. Meant from the bottom of the group Eric Granado, Simeon's teammate, is the author of a great comeback during which unfortunately sends Savadori (Trentino Gresini MotoE) that falls in turn 8. The Italian rider's bike violently hits the air fence which deflates, leaving that part of the track unprotected. The decision of the race direction to display the red flag is mandatory. Having passed half of the laps, the race is declared over with Tuuli, Smith and Di Meglio in the first 3 places. The Finnish driver takes home the race, the fastest lap and the pole position.
Here the declarations of the winner of the race, Niki Tuuli:
"I'm very happy. We were able to produce a great pace all weekend and session by session we made progress. In the race it was more difficult because we didn't know exactly what the track conditions would be like after the early morning rain. I started carefully and then after the first two laps I started pushing hard. The race was shorter than usual and this allowed us less time to put our strategy into practice. In the end I managed to gain a few meters and be in front of me when the red flag was displayed. Of course, getting the win in the beginning is incredible. I like the championship atmosphere MotoE. "
At this link you can download the race results file (link)
