MotoE is back on track in France for the second round of the 2024 season. In the two races on the Le Mans circuit, Nicholas Spinelli won, thus giving the Tech3 E-Racing team a fantastic double victory in the home race.
What can we say after the two French races of MotoE 2024? These, in our opinion, are the most interesting points that emerged in Le Mans:
1 – Let's start with Nicholas Spinelli, author of a double at Le Mans. The Tech-3 E-Racing team rider gave Hervè Poncharal a double souvenir for his home GP; not bad for a rider who at one point in the winter had found himself without a bike, after the 'withdrawal' of the RNF team with which he had an agreement. From not having a bike, to winning three out of four races in MotoE plus his debut race in WorldSBK, is quite an accomplishment. Now Spinelli is, for all intents and purposes, the main championship opponent of his former 2023 teammate, Mattia Casadei.
2 – Mattia Casadei. The LCR E-Team's new rider is doing perfectly the job Lucio Cecchinello hired him to do: winning races but above all scoring points to finally bring the MotoE title to LCR. In France, Casadei did not win but picked up important points with the two podiums. A second and a third place may seem few in the face of Spinelli's one-two punch, but a double podium in such a hotly contested category are crucial for the title race. And Casadei is aware of that, as was seen by the determination with which he fought in France, especially with Zannoni, to collect as many points as possible.
3 – The title contenders. MotoE has only had four races so far, but they are still a quarter of the entire season, consisting of sixteen races. Four races are already enough to get some indication of who is and who is not in the race toward the 2024 championship title. To win the championship one needs an average of 16 points per race, which means, on average, always finishing at least third. For now, the only 'average' ones are Casadei and Spinelli. Everyone else, if they don't start winning a few races, risks falling too far behind. At the end of May, after the Catalan and Italian GPs, MotoE will be at the halfway point of its sixth season. These two rounds already risk being the last call for some title contenders, such as Ferrari, Torres and Granado.
4 – Oscar Gutierrez. At first glance, the podium in Portimao by the Spanish rookie might have seemed the result of the many winter testing sessions the MotoE riders had in the Algarve. Le Mans was supposed to be the track that should have downsized the Axxis-Msi team rider, who had never raced on the French circuit. Instead, Gutierrez not only went strong but also took another podium, finishing race 2 just four-tenths behind the winner. Now the Spaniard is fourth in the overall standings, and not by accident, as can be seen by the way he drives the Ducati V21L and the times he can get.
5 – Kevin Zannoni. Moments before the end of Q1, Zannoni was ready to appear in Q2 to fight with Spinelli, Garzò and Granado for the pole position of the French GP. Except then, in the span of a moment, he was hit by the bike unintentionally thrown at him by Alessio Finello at the braking of the first chicane. The Aspar team rider returned to the pits demoralized, without a bike to participate in Q2. However, Zannoni turned this moment into the charge that allowed him a beautiful comeback in race 1, taking him from XNUMXth position to second place on the podium. Now Zannoni is third overall and is doing better in the Aspar team than his teammate, a two-time MotoE champion.
6 – Hector Garzò. Fantastic on Friday, disastrous on Sunday. Garzò was flawless in the Friday sessions, taking his first MotoE pole position and lowering the track record, something repeated later in race 2. However, you can't have two crashes out of two races where you have everything to win. Garzò is one of the fastest riders in MotoE and one of the candidates for the final victory, provided he frees himself from his historical flaw of crashing when he can win.
7 – A year ago, Matteo Ferrari had done everything at Le Mans: pole position, track record, crash, victory despite a long lap penalty. This year, the Gresini team rider has retraced the same parabola of the round in Portugal: problems in free practice, failure to pass in Q2, start in the rear and a slight recovery in the race. Something needs to change starting on Friday to get back to his usual level.
8 – Andrea Mantovani was seen again at Le Mans; evidently, the Italian driver is charging up for the races in Barcelona and Mugello, two tracks where he won last year. He was not framed so much by the cameras, but Mantovani had two good races, recovering in both cases from XNUMXth to fifth position.
9 – After looking at data from four races, we can say that the Michelin tires for 2024 have solved their Achilles heel from the previous season, when the French manufacturer's front tire wore out prematurely. The times of the races held so far tell us that the new tires allow constant times for the entire duration of the race.
10 - Audience. The 2024 French GP broke an all-time record and became the MotoGP event with the best attendance in history. On Sunday nearly 120.000 people were present in the grandstands of the French circuit. On Saturday, for the MotoE and MotoGP Sprint Races, there were nearly 90.000. The French public once again proved to be one of those most passionate about motorcycling as a sport.
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MotoE World Championship
The standings of the MotoE 2024
Photos: MotoGP
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