That’s round one of the 2024 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Championship done for Tech3 E-Racing. Things started perfectly on Saturday morning with new recruit Nicholas Spinelli taking the first win of 2024 after a brilliant ride on the rollercoaster. Unfortunately, the afternoon did not go the same way after the Italian crashed while he was leading race 2. On the other side, Alessandro Zaccone, who had made a decent start to race 1, was involved in an incident which cost him a long lap penalty for the afternoon’s race. He could not do better than a P12 in race 2.
RACE 1
Everything started perfectly for Tech3 E-Racing’s squad, especially for Nicholas Spinelli and his team. After a great Friday during which he qualified in second, the new Tech3 boy from Italy, already a MotoE™ race winner in 2023, accomplished a perfect race at lunch time. His start was not the best as he dropped to P4 after one lap, but his confidence and pace allowed him to catch up quickly on his rivals Hector Garzo and Mattia Casadei. He took the lead of the race for the first time on lap 5, and that left the front guys battling it out for the win for the last three laps. Eventually, Spinelli made a clever move on Garzo in the final lap, as he went on to clinch his first victory of 2024. Spinelli closed 2023 with a win, and started 2024 with a win. Beautiful, no? On the other hand, it was an unlucky race that Alessandro Zaccone had to go through. Last season, the number 61 struggled to qualify well, but this weekend, everything had been going smoothly for him so far. Pace and confidence were there, and he had managed to qualify on the second row. When the race started, he progressed to fourth after two laps behind his teammate, and the next lap, he clocked in the fastest race lap, in 1’46.811, which allowed him to close the gap with the leading group. He was doing very well until an unfortunate event happened, as he crashed and took down Jordi Torres. He was handed a long lap penalty, to complete in race 2.
RACE 2
The afternoon’s race was unfortunately not as euphoric as the previous one. Alessandro Zaccone started from P5, but the long lap penalty he was given after race 1 killed his race. After he completed it, he found himself in P12, and could not do much better. Freshly a race winner, and therefore leader of the championship at that time, Nicholas Spinelli started his race well to take the lead ahead of title rival Hector Garzo. Unfortunately, he was quickly handed a double long lap penalty following an incorrect position on the grid at the race start. Before he had time to complete it, the Italian crashed. It is a very disappointing end to a weekend that had gone very well on both sides of Tech3 E-Racing’s garage, but the team will be heading to the next round in Le Mans with a lot of positives, after both riders were competitive this weekend across all sessions. Next, the Michelin Grand Prix de France, on May 10-11, 2024.
Race 1: 1st
Race 2: DNF
Championship: 3rd
Points: 25
"I am happy that we took our first win in the first race. It is really important to start the championship with a victory, but I obviously feel bad for the afternoon’s race. I made a mistake at the start, which is a shame. When I saw the double long lap penalty, I tried to push a lot to make the gap, but that was too much and I crashed. It was unfortunate, but it is racing. Anyway, we have been competitive all weekend, I am feeling really well with both the bike and the team, we worked well, so we will now focus on the next round in Le Mans."
Race 1: DNF
Race 2: 12th
Championship: 18th
Points: 4
"I am really sad about race 1, because I was really fast. The grip was not great, so it was difficult to overtake, but I tried as I wanted to fight for the podium. Jordi Torres overtook me. In turn 5, I was really close to him, he braked late which I did not expect, and I crashed and took him down. I want to apologise to him of course, but I consider that it was a race incident, and the long lap penalty is harsh. This destroyed our hopes in race 2, so we finished too far. The only positive thing of the weekend is that we were finally able to be fast quickly into the weekend, I feel much better than last season on the bike, so let’s take these positives to the next round in Le Mans!"
HERVE PONCHARAL
Team Manager
"Mixed feelings in MotoE today for Tech3 E-Racing! Alessandro Zaccone did not finish race 1 due to an unfortunate crash, but Nicholas Spinelli gave us the present he could on his first race with us, as he took the victory. We were over the moon, because it was the perfect way to start the new season. Later on, we found out that Alessandro was handed a long lap penalty, which in MotoE is a race killer, because there are only eight laps. Unfortunately, things got worse for us as the day went by! Nicholas’ front wheel touched the white line on the grid at race 2 start, so he got a double long lap penalty. Although he was leading the race at that time, he tried to push even more to make a break big enough to overcome the penalty, but that was mission impossible, and he crashed, pushing too hard. Alessandro could not do much with a long lap penalty and finished 12th. We know we are fast with both riders, we can fight for victories, maybe the championship, but for this, we need to finish races and avoid big mistakes. Let’s see the glass half full, we have a great lineup of riders, a great team, and a fast Motul Ducati, so we are looking forward to the next round in Le Mans."
