The opening preseason test for the 2021 FIM Enel MotoE World Cup has drawn to a close at ‘Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto’ in Andalucía, Spain, with already a tight battle at the top of the timesheets. After three busy days of action, Eric Granado was the quickest rider of the MotoE field after logging a 1’47.553secs lap-time in the morning the session of the final day – aboard his Energica Ego Corsa #77.
The 24-year-old from Brazil, in his first outing with the One Energy Racing Team, was able to pip Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt IntactGP) by only thirty thousandths of a second, with both riders already looking very strong ahead of the coming season.
Strong winds and changeable skies – but luckily no rain – did not prevent riders from getting up to speed after the long winter, or in some cases, from getting to grips with Energica’s stunning race machine. Speaking of newcomers, one surely made an impression: 15-year-old rookie Fermin Aldeguer (OpenBank Aspar Team) was storming the undulating Jerez track already on day one while getting in the mix with much more experienced riders, both at world championship level and in MotoE. The young Spanish rider ended up fourth-fastest, behind 2019 title winner Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) and ahead of the reigning World Cup champion Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40).
New signing for the OCTO Pramac MotoE team Alessandro Zaccone was sixth ahead of two more returning riders, Xavier Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) and Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-racing), with rookies Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) and Andrea Mantovani (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) completing the top-ten.
Energica and the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup will return to Jerez next month for three more days of testing (12-14 April), with the season opener scheduled at the same track on May 2nd.
Photo by Jesus Robledo