A few days ago, the Openbank Aspar Team completed the first test of the MotoE 2024 in Portimao. Yesterday, in Madrid, at the headquarters of the team's title sponsor, was the moment of the official presentation of the two riders of the "Aspar" Martinez team: Jordi Torres and Kevin Zannoni.
Also in 2024, Openbank and the Aspar team will be together to conquer the MotoE World Championship, in the sixth consecutive season of this alliance between Grupo Santander's digital bank and the Spanish team. The 2024 Openbank Aspar Team welcomes Italian Kevin Zannoni, who will be teammate of the runner-up in the MotoE 2023, Jordi Torres.
The Openbank Aspar Team kicked off its sixth season with the team's presentation at the Openbank headquarters in Madrid, where the team's riders unveiled the colors of the Ducati V21L with which they will ride in sixteen races at eight circuits, from March to September. The goal of the Spanish team will once again be to fight for the title, after the excellent 2023 season, when Torres led the championship for six of the eight race weekends.
In 2023, Jordi Torres achieved two victories, six podiums and three pole positions and in 2024 he will again aim for a third title in the electric category after winning the championship in 2020 and 2021. This year, Torres has a new teammate, the Italian Kevin Zannoni, who debuts with Team Openbank Aspar after completing his best season in MotoE in 2023.
Zannoni, a 3-year-old rider and two-time Italian Moto130 champion, made his podium debut last year, finishing third in both races of the Austrian Grand Prix, and scored XNUMX points after eleven top ten finishes in the class.
In the recent tests which took place in Portimao, Kevin Zannoni demonstrated a great adaptation to his new team, completing a total of 82 laps with his best time of 1:47.396. For his part, Torres recorded a best time of 1:47.554, in a test in which the Catalan rider worked above all on the set-up of his bike, concluding with an excellent feeling. Furthermore, the riders had the opportunity to carry out a race simulation, in which both showed excellent pace. Héctor Garzó, who set a time of 1:46.916, was the fastest MotoE rider of the test, with Nicholas Spinelli second and Matteo Ferrari third.
The Openbank Aspar Team will be back on track together with all the MotoE teams the Thursday before the Portuguese Grand Prix for a single-day test, before the official start of the MotoE World Championship, in Portimao, 22-23 March 2024.
MotoE World Championship 2024
The test of the MotoE 2024 in Portimao
Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team rider)
“After a great season in 2023, it is a great joy to start the year again at the headquarters of Openbank, which, with the Aspar Team, forms a big family in which I have felt very welcome from the first day. We are back for another year competing together and we want to continue working from where we left off. Last year we achieved podiums and victories and we fought for the title until the end and now that will be our objective again. We have sixteen races ahead of us, it's a long championship, but we are not allowed to fail.
Portimao it's been a good first test. It was time to get back on the bike, for the team to get back on track, to get back in touch with each other and to do it with the incentive of a new circuit. We had never been to Portimao before, it's a rollercoaster, with lots of ups and downs. It is a spectacular circuit and, despite the variable weather conditions, we are still competitive and we are at the front in every practice session. We continue to work on ourselves, making changes to the bike to get to know it better, which will help us throughout the year. It is very important to work these days and to have a lot of resources so that later, during the weekends, we can be more agile when it comes to fine-tuning the bike. Everything is working very well, we know the points we have to improve and we keep working."
Kevin Zannoni (Openbank Aspar Team rider)
“It's an honour to be part of this team, one of the most important in the World Championship, which has won so many races and titles throughout its history. I have a lot to learn from all of them and I am happy to be able to walk this path with them. In the first pre-season tests with the Openbank Aspar Team I have felt very good with the team, it has a very familiar atmosphere and they work very well.
It has been a positive first test, I felt good with my mechanics from the beginning, I found it easy to find a good set-up and I learned a lot from the way the team works. We worked hard from the first day and made modifications until the last session. We have a good starting base and I am very happy about this. I want to thank the whole team for their work during the test."
MotoE World Championship 2024
The gallery of the test in Portimao
Jorge “Aspar” Martinez (CEO Openbank Aspar Team)
“The Aspar Team project in the MotoE World Championship could not be understood without the support of Openbank. Together we have worked hard over the years, together we have touched the sky with victories and podiums and together we were on the verge of winning the title in 2023. Today we open a sixth season of collaboration in which we will continue to fight as we have done so far to repay the trust that Openbank has placed in us with great results.”
Patricia Benito (Openbank General Manager)
“Openbank is proud to continue building together the winning team that is the Openbank Aspar Team. For six years now we have been supporting and vibrating with this project to which the whole Aspar team dedicates so much love, hard work and perseverance. I am sure that this year will bring great success and we wish our riders all the luck in the world."
The combined times of the three days of the MotoE test in Portimao
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