The Openbank Aspar Team rider closes the German Grand Prix with a victory and a third place and consolidates his leadership in the MotoE World Championship. Thanks to Torres' victory, Jorge Martínez “Aspar” and the Aspar Team conquered their 400th podium in the World Championship at the Sachsenring. In a few days, the start of the Dutch GP at Assen.
Jordi Torres closed the German Grand Prix by extending his lead in the MotoE World Championship. The Openbank Aspar Team rider entered the third round of the season two points ahead of Matteo Ferrari and four over Héctor Garzò, but thanks to a win and a third place in Germany, he increased the gap to 18 points. Torres won Race 1 after battling with Héctor Garzò and Eric Granado until the last lap. Randy Krummenacher and Nicholas Spinelli took advantage of the crashes of Garzò and Granado to conquer the podium, but for the Italian, the emotion lasted until the penalty for causing Garzò to crash on the last lap. Spinelli dropped to sixth place while Matteo Ferrari took the podium.
In the afternoon, in Race 2, Torres, Garzó and Casadei rode a very close race, but it was Garzó who took the victory, the first of his career, after a red flag caused by the rain stopped the race four laps from the end.
The weekend in Germany was very positive for Torres who scored 41 points. His main rivals leave the Sachsenring having lost ground to the Aspar team rider. Garzò, despite having won his first victory in MotoE, crashed in Race 1 due to a contact with Spinelli on the last lap. Ferrari took third and seventh place, with a performance below expectations, due to the tenth place on the starting grid.
Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team)
“It's been a fantastic weekend. We have been able to recover from the results of Mugello and distance ourselves at the top of the general standings. I really wanted to show that we can fight for the title and Le Mans was not a coincidence. I have felt good in both races. The first one has been incredible, because of how it has gone and because it has meant the 400th podium for the team. In the second one I could have pushed at the end, but the red flag prevented me from doing it. We are still leading the championship and we are ready for everything to come.”
Torres' victory in Race 1 was also the 400th podium in the World Championship for the Aspar team. Forty years have passed since May 1983, when Jorge Martínez “Aspar”, who was still starting his career in the World Championship, stood on the 50cc podium at the Spanish Grand Prix. Over the next 40 years, his team amassed four hundred World Championship trophies, the 400th thanks to Jordi Torres, in the German Grand Prix of MotoE.
The results of 40 years of racing include 146 victories, 130 second and 124 third places spread over four decades, seven different categories and around thirty riders, among which stand out Jorge Martínez “Aspar” himself, with 61 podiums, and the World Champions Álvaro Bautista and Nico Terol, with 42 and 30 podiums, respectively.
The podium that started the count in 1983 at Jarama was the only one in the 50cc category. Jorge Martínez “Aspar” immediately added another 34 in the extinct 80cc category and 26 in the 125cc one. The last by the Aspar Team Principal was in Indonesia in 1997. That was Martínez's retirement season and from then on, he dedicated himself to leading the Aspar Team project.
The podium number 62, the first without the signature of "Aspar" Martínez, was conquered by the French Arnaud Vincent, in his home grand prix. Between 125cc and Moto3, 234 podiums were won, 68 of which by riders who would end their respective seasons as World Champions. The team had to wait for 100 for the 2003th podium finish. Toni Elías finished third in the 250cc Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril, thus completing the first hundred trophies for Aspar. Less than four years later came the podium number 200, thanks to Alex de Angelis in Germany, always with a third place in the 250cc. The 300th podium came with Bradley Smith's victory in the 2010 Valencia GP. Now, after a 12+1 year wait, the team has reached its 400th podium, with Jordi Torres in MotoE.
In 40 years of racing, the Aspar team has achieved at least one podium in seven different categories: 50cc, 80cc, 125cc, 250cc, Moto3, Moto2 and MotoE.
MotoE World Championship
The standings of the 2023 championship
MotoE World Championship
The gallery of the 2023 MotoE German GP
Photos: MotoGP
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