Torres fights back to claim MotoE™ Race 1 victory

Two-time World Cup winner Jordi Torres had to battle his way back up the order but won Race 1 to extend his Championship lead

Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) took a stunning victory at the Sachsenring in Race 1 after a dramatic encounter during the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. Polesitter Torres lost out at the start but a series of incredible overtakes meant he took victory. Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) claimed his best MotoE™ result with second, while Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) was third after a penalty for rookie Nicholas Spinelli (HP Pons Los40).

The lights went out for Race 1 and rookie Spinelli took the lead into Turn 1, but he soon relinquished that on Lap 2 when Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) came past in search of his first MotoE™ win. Garzo’s pace meant he was able to set a new race lap record on the second lap, with a 1:27.914, before the race pace across the field slowed down. The Spaniard was unable to pull away from the chasing pack as polesitter Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) kept the pressure on, although found himself dropping down the order in the early stages.

Mugello Race 2 winner Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) moved into the podium places as he passed Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) with an unconventional move at Turn 2 on Lap 5 before he set his sights on Torres up ahead. A lap later and Granado was through on the two-time World Cup winner at Turn 12; a move he repeated on Lap 7 on Garzo to move into the lead. Granado’s lead lasted just a couple of laps as Torres, who had battled back into the lead fight, came by on Lap 9 at Turn 12 to take the lead.

The drama continued at the start of the final lap. Both Granado and Garzo crashed at Turn 1, in separate incidents, with Granado attempting to re-take the lead when he lost the front of his Ducati machine while Garzo went down after contact with Spinelli. The incident was placed under investigation by the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards with Spinelli given a three-second penalty in lieu of a Long Lap Penalty. The incident promoted Randy Krummenacher (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) to second and Spinelli to third initially, but he dropped to sixth once the penalty was applied and promoted Ferrari to third. The Italian had started tenth after he was disqualified from Q2 for a technical infringement.

He was three tenths clear of Alessandro Zaccone (Tech3 E-racing) in fourth, while the Italian had a two-second margin over Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) in fifth. Spinelli was sixth with his penalty, finishing ahead of Tito Rabat (Prettl Pramac MotoE) in eighth. Mugello victor Andrea Mantovani (RNF MotoE Team) was ninth with Hikari Okubo (Tech3 E-racing) rounding out the top ten.

Don’t forget to tune in for MotoE™ Race 2 at 16:10 Local Time (GMT+2)!

FULL RESULTS

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