Casadei continues MotoE winning streak at Spielberg, Ferrari falls back in championship fight

Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) has won both races of the MotoE in Spielberg (Austria). The young Italian celebrated his third consecutive victory in the electric racing series on Saturday afternoon, climbing to second place in the drivers' championship. Meanwhile, his compatriot Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) lost ground in the title fight against double champion Jordi Torres (GasGas Aspar Team) with a crash in Race 1.

Things didn't go well for the Spaniard at the Red Bull Ring. Already in an interview before race 1, he stated that the track did not suit his driving style as well as his height of 1.80 meters. His championship rival Ferrari started the race from 4th place and was able to pass Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) in turn 3. Still in the lead at this point was Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse), who had started the race from pole but was under pressure from Casadei.

In the last corner of lap 3, Casadei was able to slip past Zannoni on the inside, who subsequently dropped to 4th place. One lap later, the Italian himself made a small mistake on the rear axle, which is why Ferrari took the lead and was then able to pull away. Until a few corners before the end, the race seemed to be decided, but then Ferrari lost the rear wheel in the middle of the infield in turn 7 and crashed.

The same thing had happened earlier to Mantovani (RNF MotoE Team) and Okubo (Tech3 E-Racing). Thus, both Granado and Zannoni were on the podium with winner Mattia Casadei, while Torres extended his lead in the overall standings with 5th place.

Result of round 11 of MotoE 2023 in Spielberg

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time
1	Mattia Casadei	HP Pons Los40	11:37.993 min
2	Eric Granado	LCR E-Team	+1.218 s
3	Kevin Zannoni	Ongetta SOC58 Squadracorse	+1.382 s
4	Hector Garzo	Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE	+1.466 s
5	Jordi Torres	GasGas Aspar Team	+4.114 s
6	Miquel Pons	LCR E-Team	+5.950 s

 

Little spectacle in race 2

The second electric bike race on Saturday afternoon was unexpectedly quiet. The top 4 started in the same order as in the morning. Casadei underlined his ambitions directly in turn 5, when he caught a better corner exit on the inside than Zannoni and thus overtook him. After that, the first seven riders drove a quiet race one after the other.

Only Ferrari was able to pass Granado at the halfway point of the race, who also crashed with one lap to go. Ferrari overtook Zannoni in the downhill passage shortly before the finish line, but he was not able to aim for victory. In two weeks time, MotoE heads to Barcelona. The season finale is set to take place afterwards at Misano.

Result of the 12th round of MotoE 2023 in Spielberg

Post.	Driver	Team	Time
1	Mattia Casadei	HP Pons Los40	11:37.686 min
2	Matteo Ferrari	Felo Gresino MotoE	+0.077 s
3	Kevin Zannoni	Ongetta SOC58 Squadracorse	+0.373 s
4	Miquel Pons	LCR E-Team	+2.158 s
5	Hector Garzo	Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE	+2.246 s
6	Jordi Torres	GasGas Aspar Team	+3.929 s