Oscar Gutierrez wins in the first of two races on the Barcelona circuit. The Spanish rookie is first on his home circuit ahead of Eric Granado and Kevin Zannoni.
Oscar Gutierrez wins race 1 of the Catalan GP MotoE 2024 in Barcelona – This weekend, in Barcelona, it takes place the Catalan GP, the third round of the MotoE 2024, the electric category of MotoGP. A spectacular first race full of twists and turns took place on the Catalonia circuit.
At the green light, Mattia Casadei started better than his teammate who was in pole position and took the lead of the race, followed by Kevin Zannoni, who recovered from eighth to second place. Casadei immediately tries to gain ground on Zannoni, putting a few tenths of a second between him and his pursuers. Halfway through the first lap, Oscar Gutierrez, pumped up to race on his home circuit, overtakes Spinelli and moves into fifth position behind Granado. One of the crucial moments of the race comes at the last corner of the first lap, with Nicholas Spinelli losing grip on the front and sliding into the gravel. The number 29 is forced to retire for the second time this year.
At the end of the straight Granado passes Garzò while Zannoni takes advantage of the slipstream and closes behind Casadei. The first group regroups with Casadei first, followed by Zannoni, Granado, Garzò, Gutierrez, Torres, Zaccone and Ferrari.
In the new crossing of the finish line, Casadei loses the leadership of the race because he is overtaken at the same time by both Zannoni and Garzò. Granado meanwhile is fourth, after overtaking Garzò. Behind them, Torres and Zaccone lose ground while Tulovic retires following the crash at turn 10.
Each crossing of the finish line changes the classification of the race. This time, it's Garzò and Granado's turn to move to the front by taking advantage of the slipstream and braking of Turn 1. Similarly, Gutierrez passes Casadei, and Zaccone overtakes Torres, with the Tech3 team rider recording the fastest lap.
With three laps to go, we witness the key moment of the race: the first five riders pass side by side on the main straight, but Oscar Gutierrez brakes last and enters turn one first. For the home rider, a masterful overtaking took him from fourth to first place. Behind him are Grando, Zaccone, Garzò and Casadei, with Zaccone catching up. Casadei seems to be in difficulty, especially when accelerating. In the meantime, there is a contract between Mantovani and Davies; the first resumes the race while the second retreats.
With two laps to go Gutierrez recorded the fastest lap of the race, in 1:40.025 and brought his advantage over Granado to 547 thousandths. The Brazilian rider doesn't give up, and corner after curve, he gets close to the race leader. The last lap begins with three couple of riders: Gutierrez and Granado fighting for the victory, Zannoni and Garzò for third place, and Casadei and Zaccone for fifth.
Granado attempts an overtaking at both turns five and ten but Gutierrez brakes deep and inside and protects the line. The number 99 enters the two right-hand corners leading to the finish line first and keeps Granado behind until the checkered flag. Zannoni passes third.
For the Spanish rookie rider of the Axxis-Msi team it is the first victory in MotoE, after the two podiums achieved in Portimao and Le Mans. The other riders in the Top5 are; Grando, Zannoni, Garzò and Zannoni, while Casadei finishes the race in sixth place.
In the overall classification, Casadei remains first with 87 points, ahead of Spinelli, who is stuck at 75, and Gutierrez, who rises to third place with 66 points.
Race 16 starts at 10:2 pm.
The results of Race 1 of the Catalan GP of MotoE 2024 in Barcelona
| POS. | N. | Nat. | Rider | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 99 |  |
Oscar Gutierrez | Axxis-MSI | 12'44.802 | |
| 2 | 51 |  |
Eric Granado | LCR E-Team | 12'44.933 | 0,131 |
| 3 | 21 |  |
Kevin Zannoni | Openbank Aspar Team | 12'45.216 | 0,414 |
| 4 | 4 | |
Hector Garzo | Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™ | 12'45.594 | 0,792 |
| 5 | 61 | |
Alessandro Zaccone | Tech3 E-Racing | 12'46.404 | 1,602 |
| 6 | 40 | |
Mattia Casadei | LCR E-Team | 12'47.118 | 2,316 |
| 7 | 81 | |
Jordi Torres | Openbank Aspar Team | 12'47.151 | 2,349 |
| 8 | 11 | |
Matteo Ferrari | Felo Gresini MotoE™ | 12'48.917 | 4,115 |
| 9 | 77 | |
Miquel Pons | Axxis-MSI | 12'50.907 | 6,105 |
| 10 | 55 | |
Massimo Roccoli | Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse | 12'53.451 | 8,649 |
| 11 | 34 | |
Kevin Manfredi | Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse | 12'53.459 | 8,657 |
| 12 | 72 | |
Alessio Finello | Felo Gresini MotoE™ | 12'53.761 | 8,959 |
| 13 | 6 | |
Maria Herrera | Klint Forward Factory Team | 12'58.347 | 13,545 |
| 14 | 80 | |
Armando Pontone | Aruba Cloud MotoE™ Racing Team | 13'05.318 | 20,516 |
| 15 | 9 | |
Andrea Mantovani | Klint Forward Factory Team | 14'21.465 | 1,000 |
| 16 | 7 |  |
Chaz Davies | Aruba Cloud MotoE™ Racing Team | 7'28.837 | 5,000 |
| 17 | 3 |  |
Lukas Tulovic | Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™ | 3'43.876 | |
| 18 | 29 | |
Nicholas Spinelli | Tech3 E-Racing | nc | 0,000 |
MotoE World Championship
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Photos: MotoGP
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Epaddock will follow the Catalan GP in Barcelona MotoE proposing the results of all the sessions, the pilots' statements, technical focus and insights as well as a dedicated photo-gallery.
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