What the first MotoE races in France told us

What the first MotoE races in France told us
The arrival of race 2 of the MotoE in Le Mans
The arrival of race 2 of the MotoE at Le Mans (photo: MotoGP)

What we understood from the first races of MotoE who raced at the French GP? Performance, reliability, gaps, audience and social media.

A few days ago, the first MotoE 2023 races took place, the first with the Ducati V21L, the first of the MotoE with World Championship status. The first two winners were Jordi Torres and Matteo Ferrari. Beyond the riders who finished on the podium or who crashed, what did the French GP tell us about the new MotoE?
These are the five points that caught our attention in the French round of the MotoE World Championship.

Performances

Le Mans is a track where the Ducati MotoE had never been. The internal Ducati tests had mainly taken place on the Misano, Mugello and Vallelunga circuits. The official pre-season tests of the MotoE had touched the tracks of Jerez and Barcelona. Le Mans was, therefore, a track on which the performance of the Ducati V21L could be measured without the advantage of having reference data from the teams. The chronometric response was unequivocal: the MotoE of Ducati is confirmed as fastest of the Moto3 class, with paces that could soon reach Supersport levels. Moto2 is still a long way off at the moment, but over time, thanks to the technological development of batteries that will take place over the next 2-3 years, the gap will narrow. In terms of lap times, the new Le Mans record of 1:40.101 set by Matteo Ferrari is more than three seconds lower than the previous record.

The group of pilots of the MotoE in Le Mans
The group of riders of the MotoE at Le Mans (photo: MotoGP)

Reliability

For now, the Ducati V21L has only competed in one round of the MotoE World Championship, but the 18 bikes covered a total of around 2400 km over the weekend at Le Mans. Over the two days of the round, none of the bikes showed any problems whatsoever. In practice, no rider was penalized by a issue of his bike. Certainly a good start for a prototype at the first race.

Gap between riders

MotoE had accustomed us to races always full of overtaking and with riders at the finish line packed within a few seconds. The average gap between the winner and tenth in each race had been 12.1 sec in 2019, 9.0 sec in 2020, 8.6 sec in 2021 and 6.4 in 2022. The race where this gap had been at its smallest was last year at last year at Mugello, with 2.6.
In France, we went back, with an average gap between the winner and 14.1th of XNUMX sec.
The reason lies in the speed in discovering and learning how the Ducati V21L works. The working method used by some teams during the tests has borne more fruit than others. If last year even the last one to finish had a bike with a well-set setup, thanks to four years of experience, today, this is no longer valid. Using the sessions, tires and electronics of MotoE well can restore an advantage in the race that the rider's skill alone cannot fill.

The group of pilots of the MotoE in Le Mans
The group of riders of the MotoE at Le Mans (photo: MotoGP)

Audience

Le Mans is a circuit where people are always fantastic, both in number and in passion. Since Friday, many people have been seen in the grandstands, including on Saturday, during the two MotoE races. The fact of having planned race 1 of the MotoE immediately after the MotoGP qualifying and race 2 after the Sprint Race allowed the public at the circuit to discover a category which, until a few minutes before, they probably didn't know existed. This was also true for the television audience, which, in various European countries, was able to watch the MotoE World Championship races live. This was certainly more difficult when MotoE raced on Sunday, a day already very full of sporting events.

The start of one of the races of the MotoE in Le Mans
The start of one of the races of the MotoE at Le Mans (photo: MotoGP)

Social Media

During the winter break, Dorna activated channels dedicated to MotoE on all major Social Media: from Instagram to Facebook, from YouTube to TikTok. When the racing season began, Dorna began broadcasting exclusive content relating to the World Championship on these MotoE dedicated channels. These contents are completely similar to those published on the MotoGP channels, both in terms of quality and number. This was not possible in the past years when the MotoE was published on the MotoGP channels, and for obvious reasons, he could not find the space he needed to tell his races.
Furthermore, qualifying was broadcast free-to-air on both the MotoGP and MotoE YouTube channels, an undoubted help in making the electric category known to motorcycling enthusiasts.

Now the World Championship moves to Mugello, over the weekend from 9 to 11 June. We'll see what other indications can be drawn after the two races on the Italian track.

MotoE World Championship
The standings of the 2023 championship

MotoE Silverstone

MotoE World Championship
The calendar of the MotoE 2023

A moment from Race 1 of the MotoE during the French GP

MotoE World Championship
The gallery of the French GP 2023

Photos: MotoGP

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