Category: MotoE

The MotoE riders found the track wet so the race was declared in the wet which was a great question mark because no one had riden until then in those conditions with electric motorcycles in the Austrian race track.

Xavier Simeon made a good start staying second close to of the first while Eric Granado made a great comeback from the ninth position to lead in the second lap. Unfortunately, Granado crashed in turn three when he had already a few meters of advantage over the second rider. On the other hand, Xavier Simeon was overtaken by Héctor Garzó and rolled into third but the crash of Garzó made him return to the second position in which he finished as he got the first podium in MotoE for the Avintia Esponsorama Racing.

“I am very happy, it has been an almost perfect weekend because we have shown our speed in all conditions. The team has done a great job, I had a lot of fun and I hope to stay that competitive in Misano.”

“It went quite well, he managed to go very fast at the beginning. I tried to control when I was in first position and honestly it was going very well but I had an unforgivable mistake. When I rode over the piano I could not avoid the crash, the front just locked . It’s a shame to end up like this in a race I could have won. I want to apologize to the team and I hope to change the situation in the next race in Misano.”

The MotoE World Championship is back for the Austrian GP at the Spielberg circuit where the second race of the season of the new category will be held. After the good performance proved at Sachsenring a month ago when both enter the Top10, both Eric Granado and Xavier Simeón arrived in Austria with enthusiasm to face a new race weekend.

“I am quite motivated, among other things because I don’t know the Austrian circuit and I really want to start working with the team on Friday and get the bike ready for Sunday’s race. This weekend we will have one more training, what which is very important for me as I’ve never race in this track. Despite not getting the result we expected, in Germany we had a great rhythm and I am happy with the level we proved. Here I’ll try to be competitive again in the Superpole and mainly in the Race.”

“I am very motivated and looking forward to this second race. The Red Bull Ring is totally opposite to the Sachsering circuit where we raced the first race because it has many straights. How the MotoE bikes will behave here is a big question mark. In Sachsenring I could show that I am competitive with these bikes and I hope to be that fast also this weekend where the goal will be to get on the podium.”

The Italian rider finished at the gates of the points once again after finishing 17th in his third race with the Reale Avintia Arizona 77, getting what is his best result with the team so far.

The width of the Brno layout led to a large number of overtaking that significantly slowed the pace of the test. The race was plenty of accidents from the very beginning and that Stefano Nepa could take advantage of that, keeping on his KTM, he recovered positions from the 30th from which he started on the grid after a tough qualifying session on Saturday.

The Moto3 World Championship will be held again next week at the Austrian circuit of Spielberg on the occasion of the eleventh event of the season.

“It was a very difficult weekend for me and for the team, we couldn’t work well on Friday and that penalized us, but in the warm up we made a step forward and got closer in therms of lap times. Now there is another race to improve even more, thanks to the whole team, my family and sponsors. See you all at the Red Bull Ring.”

The MotoE Championship is now a reality and the riders of the Avintia Esponsorama Team have managed to finish in the top ten. Eric Granado, who started from the front row of the grid, suffered an incident in the first corner that took him back to second last positioin. From there on, his career was all about recovering positions up to a meritorious eighth place. In the same first corner Xavier Simeon would make a mistake a couple of laps later losing some positions when he was in top losing, consequently, contact with the front group. With two laps to go, Lorenzo Savadori’s bike broke one of the airfances after a crash when he was overtaken by Granado and race direction was forced to draw the red flag, neutralizing the race and concluding it.

“It was a very fun race but it was a shame not to finish on the podium or in the Top5. In five laps you can not make any mistakes, and that’s what I did in the first corner when I lost three positions. That hasn’t helped me but the truth is that it has been a very nice race, I hope to continue having fun in the next one. ”

“Touching another rider in the first corner was a shame as the brake lever moved and I had to put it in its place. I tried to recover as fast as possible, the bike was very good and I felt very comfortable, I was able to overtake all those in front of me until I reached the eighth position. I leave Sachsenring with a bittersweet taste because I knew I had options to fight for the podium or victory. The positive part is that we are fast and competitive and we are ready to fight in Austria.”

El Campeonato de MotoE ya es una realidad y los pilotos del Avintia Esponsorama Team han conseguido finalizar dentro de los diez primeros clasificados. Eric Granado, que salía desde la primera línea de parrilla, sufrió un incidente en la primera curva que le llevó al fondo de la clasificación. A partir de ahí, su carrera consistió en ir remontando posiciones hasta una meritoria octava plaza. En esa misma primera curva cometería un error un par de vueltas después Xavier Simeon perdiendo algunas plazas cuando se encontraba en puestos de cabeza y perdiendo, consecuentemente, contacto con el grupo delantero. A dos vueltas para el final, la moto de Lorenzo Savadori rompía una de las protecciones de las escapatorias tras una caída cuando era adelantado por Granado y dirección de carrera se veía obligaba sacar la bandera roja, neutralizando la carrera y dándola ya por concluida.

“Ha sido una carrera muy divertida pero ha sido una pena no haber acabado en el podio o en el Top5. En cinco vueltas no puedes cometer ningún fallo, algo que he hecho en la primera curva cuando he perdido tres posiciones. Eso me ha penalizado para estar arriba pero la verdad es que ha sido una carrera muy bonita, espero seguir divirtiéndome en la siguiente.”

“Ha sido una pena tener el contacto con otro piloto en la primera curva porque se me ha movido la maneta del freno y la he tenido que colocar en su sitio. He intentado remontar lo más rápido posible, la moto iba muy bien y me he sentido muy cómodo y he podido pasar a todos los que tenía delante hasta llegar a la octava posición. Me voy con un sabor agridulce de Sachsenring porque sabía que tenía opciones de luchar por el podio o la victoria. La parte positiva es que somos rápidos y competitivos y estamos listos para dar guerra en Austria.”

On the first day of MotoE’s history both Avintia Esponsorama Racing riders managed to qualify in the top ten in the combined times of the free practices 1 and 2. Today, the riders had two free practice sessions -one in the morning and another in the afternoon- 30 minutes each.

“We worked a lot on the set-up of the bike, the last time I came here was with the Moto2 and the references I had were very different and therefore it took me a bit to understand how this bike works on this track. It was particulary different at the entrance of the corners as the MotoE weighs a lot and has a different inertia, then I got used to it and I have been able to go more or less comfortable, I was the hole session alone, looking for references and important points to attack especially in the morning session. Regarding the E-Pole it will be super important to have everything very clear because you are alone on the track without references from other riders This afternoon we could not improve everything we would have liked for certain details but the most important thing is the race on Sunday “.

“It has been a very positive day. It is a very cool category because the way to approach is very different from what we are used to as we have very little time to go fast and make the set-up. You have to understand everything very quickly and this makes you have a very open mind because you have to be in rhythm quickly. We need to improve a little to be ahead but I trust that we can do a good job to solve it. “

En el primer día de la historia de MotoE ambos pilotos del Avintia Esponsorama Racing han conseguido clasificar entre los diez primeros en la combinada de tiempos de los libres 1 y 2. En este primer día, los pilotos disponían de dos sesiones de entrenamientos libres -una por la mañana y otra por la tarde- de 30 minutos cada una.

“Hemos trabajo mucho en la puesta a punto de la moto. La última vez que vine aquí fue con la Moto2 y las referencias que tenía eran muy diferentes y por lo tanto me ha costado un poco entender bien cómo funciona esta moto en esta pista sobre todo en la entrada de curva porque la MotoE pesa mucho y tiene una inercia diferente. Después me he habituado y he podido ir más o menos cómodo. Una tanda la he hecho entera solo, buscando referencias y puntos importantes donde atacar sobre todo mañana en la E-Pole que será super importante tenerlo todo muy claro porque estás solo en la pista sin referencias de otros pilotos. Esta tarde no hemos podido mejorar todo lo que nos hubiese gustado por ciertos detalles pero lo más importante es la carrera del domingo”.

“Ha sido un día muy positivo para ser el primer día oficial. Es una cateogira muy chula porque la manera de abordarla es muy diferente a lo que estamos acostumbrados porque tenemos muy poco tiempo para ir rápido y hacer la puesta a punto. Hay que entenderlo todo muy rápido y esto te hace tener la mente muy abierta porque tienes que estar en el ritmo enseguida. Nos falta mejorar un poco para estar delante pero confío en que podamos hacer un buen trabajo para solucionarlo”.

The Sachsenring circuit will be the place of the first electric motorcycle race in the history of the World Speed Championship. After a fire burried all the material of the new championship, its start was delayed until the German appointment this weekend. All the MotoE teams had a three test days two weeks ago at the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo in Cheste, in which, in addition to training sessions, the new pole system and the race were simulated. Eric Granado won the first MotoE simulated race as Xavier Simeon was sixth.

Sachsenring, where Sunday’s race will be held, is one of the most characteristic racetracks of the calendar due to its design since it has 10 left and 3 right curves that are linked in a narrow 3,671m full of ups and downs that make it the shortest circuit of the season.

“I am motivated and confident for the first MotoE race where I hope to have a good weekend after doing quite well in the Valencia test. There we got a good base for the bike and, although Sachsenring is another track and the results of the test do not guarantee anything, they do give me a lot of confidence. On Friday we will try to get the bike as ready as possible for the Pole on Saturday and especially the race on Sunday”.

“I am very motivated and I am determinated of our goal that will be fighting for the lead. It will be a very intense weekend because it will be the first edition of the MotoE so it is very difficult to know the expectations. The Valencia test was better than I thought and now we have to take all that experience we acquired there for the first race. We won’t have much time on the track and it will be very important to be focused because the failure is not allowed in this category”.