The fifth and penultimate E-Pole of the 2021 FIM Enel MotoE World Cup turned into a fierce battle at the Red Bull Ring, with fourth tenths of a second covering the top six and 0.047secs separating the top-two riders. At the end, it was 16-year-old Fermín Aldeguer (OpenBank Aspar Team) the one who claimed the most-prominent spot of the starting grid for tomorrow’s #AustrianGP race after topping the timesheets in free practice, courtesy of a near-record time of 1’35.137secs. His afternoon lap was not as quick, though it was quick enough for the young Spaniard to rewrite the history books of MotoGP’s all-electric category – powered by Energica.
Despite a not-perfect ride in the last two corners of his flying lap, Aldeguer did not crack under pressure and was able to edge Germany’s Lukas Tulovic (Tech 3 E-Racing), who showed once again how effective his clean riding style can be.
Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) completes the front row, with Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) and Alessandro Zaccone (OCTO Pramac MotoE) within five milliseconds of each other in fourth and fifth, respectively. The first-ever MotoE title winner appears to be in excellent form after a challenging early part of the season, while the Japanese star set the bar high in the early part of the session thanks to a very quick second sector, which allowed him to move up a solid number of places. Current leader Zaccone was also able to step up his game today and leave behind his closest contenders for the ultimate prize.
Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) and Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt IntactGP) were in fact seventh and eighth behind the talented Andorran Xavier Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), with Assen’s winner Eric Granado (One Energy Racing) all the way down in 13th place due to a scary near-highside – and a brilliant save.
A special mention goes to Stefano Valtulini (Ongetta Sic58 Squadracorse), who put together a solid 1’37.874secs lap-time in his MotoE debut (with no prior testing) as a substitute for Mattia Casadei – as the fellow Italian was forced home after being found positive to Covid-19.
The third-last race of the season will get underway tomorrow afternoon at 15:30 local time (GMT +2) at the Red Bull Ring.