Title fight still open: Matteo Ferrari wins both MotoE races in Assen

Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) made up a few points in the MotoE world championship battle on Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team), who finished second in both races, with two wins in the rounds at Assen in the Netherlands. Randy Krummenacher (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) and Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40), who showed a strong recovery in both races, completed the podiums.

Casadei had actually set the fastest time in qualifying, but was excluded from the session because of a misadjusted tire pressure and thus had to fight his way from 10th place. On pole instead was Torres, but he was overtaken by Ferrari as early as the third corner. Behind them, a duel evolved between Krummenacher and Granado on the one hand, and a small group consisting of Casadei, Zannoni (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse), Mantovani (RNF MotoE Team) and Rabat (Prettl Pramac MotoE) on the other, who wanted to intervene in the fight for the podium.

Granado fell behind Casadei and Mantovani, who tried to overtake Krummenacher in the closing stages. But the latter was able to celebrate a podium result for the second consecutive race weekend. Torres found himself further up front preferring to settle for second place rather than risk a retirement in the battle for the championship.

Result of the 7th round of MotoE 2023 at Assen

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time
1	Matteo Ferrari	Felo Gresini MotoE	11:59.202 min
2	Jordi Torres	Openbank Aspar Team	+0.676 s
3	Randy Krummenacher	Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE	+0.955 s
4	Mattia Casadei	HP Pons Los40	+2.230 s
5	Andrea Mantovani	RNF MotoE Team	+2.230 s
6	Eric Granado	LCR E-Team	+3.068 s

 

At the start of the second race, Torres was able to defend his lead, with Granado initially staying in 2nd position. While Tito Rabat crashed in the starting scrum at turn 9, Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) and Casadei made up many places from the back - by the end of the first lap, the Italian was already in 5th position. With strong lap times, he and Mantovani closed the gap to the top three. At about halftime, Ferrari attacked, first overtaking Granado, who was again struggling for pace, and then taking the lead on lap 4 with a strong maneuver on the short back straight.

WHAT A MOVE ?

Brave as you like from @FerrariMatteo11 ?#DutchGP ?? pic.twitter.com/0ArZpMn1cB

- MotoE™ (@MotoEofficial) June 24, 2023

Mantovani sensed a chance for another podium in the electric series on the penultimate lap and overtook Casadei at the GT chicane. However, he lost concentration on the last lap and lost his bike in the penultimate corner without any external impact - Casadei thus finished on the podium after all. The races in Assen were the finale of a first block of consecutive MotoE rounds. The electric series is now taking a short summer break. It will make its debut at Silverstone on August 6.

Result of the 8th MotoE round in 2023 at Assen

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time
1	Matteo Ferrari	Felo Gresini MotoE	11:51.376 min
2	Jordi Torres	Openbank Aspar Team	+0.078 s
3	Mattia Casadei	HP Pons Los40	+1.610 s
4	Eric Granado	LCR E-Team	+1.826 s
5	Miquel Pons	LCR E-Team	+2.858 s
6	Kevin Zanoni	Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse	+2.875 s

 

MotoE Overall Standings 2023