Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) has taken victory in MotoE™ Race 1 at the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich as title-chasing Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE™) crashes out of the lead on the final lap. Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) and Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) completed the first podium of the day in Austria.
Zannoni got the perfect launch from pole and Granado quickly gained a place into P2 at Turn 2A, with Casadei slipping to P3. That soon changed to P2 though for the latter as the Italian carved his way up the inside of Granado at Turn 1 on Lap 2, with Zannoni’s early 0.5s advantage vanishing on the second lap.
The fight for the win has now become a quartet! 👀
— MotoE™ (@MotoEofficial) August 19, 2023
Casadei is hunting down Zannoni as @FerrariMatteo11 and @ericgranado rub shoulders ⚔️#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/lSjr5hdqKf
The lead changed for the first time at the end of Lap 3 as Casadei shoved his way up to P1 past Zannoni, and the polesitter went P1 to P4 in the blink of an eye as Granado and Ferrari came charging past too. Ferrari then grabbed the lead after Casadei had a rear-end moment on the exit of Turn 8 a lap later.
With two laps to go, Ferrari boasted a 0.6s lead over Casadei with Granado a further six tenths down in P3. The Brazilian was holding Zannoni at bay, while Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) fancied a bit of the podium action in P5.
0.6s was Ferrari’s lead heading onto the final lap, Casadei’s gap to P3 had grown to 0.8s, as a fierce three-way fight for P3 unravelled. Then, at Turn 7, drama unfolded. Ferrari was down and out on the final lap while leading, which in turn handed Casadei an unexpected victory. Granado held off Zannoni and Garzo for P3, as the latter misses out on a rostrum by just 0.084s.
🏁 #MotoE RACE 1 🏁
— MotoE™ (@MotoEofficial) August 19, 2023
Mattia Casadei wins as @FerrariMatteo11 recovers his bike from the gravel 🏆💥#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/vHWqVrrApa
Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) will be counting his lucky stars as a P5 sees his Championship lead extend to 26 points over Ferrari, as Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) claims P6 despite having a Long Lap penalty to deal with. Alessandro Zaccone (Tech3 E-Racing), Mika Perez (RNF MotoE™ Team), Kevin Manfredi (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) and Tito Rabat (Prettl Pramac MotoE™) rounded out the top 10.
Another spectacular MotoE™ race ends, and we have another coming up at 16:10 local time (GMT+2). Don’t miss it!
Top 10:
| 1 | Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) | |
| 2 | Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) | + 1.218 |
| 3 | Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) | + 1.382 |
| 4 | Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) | + 1.466 |
| 5 | Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) | + 4.114 |
| 6 | Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) | + 5.950 |
| 7 | Alessandro Zaccone (Tech3 E-Racing) | + 8.394 |
| 8 | Mika Perez (RNF MotoE™ Team) | + 9-199 |
| 9 | Kevin Manfredi (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) | + 9.498 |
| 10 | Tito Rabat (Prettl Pramac MotoE™) | + 9.637 |