It is not only Super Saturday in MotoGP™ this season, with the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Championship delighting us with two electric races on Saturdays, one at lunch time, and the second one shortly after the Tissot Sprint. Tech3 E-Racing Alessandro Zaccone and Hikari Okubo both faced the challenge to start from the back of the grid, after their disappointing qualifying on Friday (P15 Zaccone and P16 Okubo). The electric class faced two complete scenarios today, with a hot and fully dry  race 1, while race 2 was completely damp following the heavy rain which arrived just in time for the race.

Race 1:
Starting from the fifteenth position, Italian Alessandro Zaccone gained a few positions within his first lap to position himself just behind Lucas Salvadori. He managed to overtake him in his fifth lap to take the eleventh position, which he kept until the end to score five points. His teammate Hikari Okubo was starting just behind him, in P16, and stayed behind the Italian for the first two laps. Eventually, Zaccone gave an extra push, but Okubo remained in fourteenth for another two laps, before he was overtaken by Alessio Finello. He completed the first race in P15, and managed to score one point.

Race 2:
The clouds that threatened the paddock all day gave their sentence, and mother nature decided that the big rain would be for the electric class today. Just minutes before heading to the grid, the rain poured over the paddock, leaving the track completely damp and delaying the start of the race by a few minutes. From the back, Zaccone struggled a bit during the first laps as the wet track left him with not much visibility. However, he felt comfortable racing in these conditions, and got into a good race pace which allowed him to overtake a couple of riders all the way until P11. When the red flag was declared, he was in the top 10, in P9. With 5 laps raced out of 7, the race stopped, and Zaccone finished ninth, scoring another seven points. Japanese Hikari Okubo did not really find the confidence needed in the damp. If he gained one position at the race start, he remained at the back of the group until the red flag, and completed the race in P11.

Zaccone will head to Sachsenring next week tenth in the championship with a total of twenty-seven points, and Okubo sits in twelfth with a total of twelve points.

Alessandro Zaccone

"We struggled a bit this morning during the race, even if I gained a few positions and managed to score some points. Then in the afternoon, it was our first race in the wet, so it was new, and strange. I started from the back, and I struggled a lot within the first two laps, because the track was damp and I had not much visibility. Then, I rode faster and was able to recover a lot of positions. We only had five laps because of the red flag, which is a shame because we could have finished a bit higher. It was not the best weekend, but we scored points, and this is important. Thank you to the team, and see you next week in Germany..”

Hiraki Okubo

"We did not have an easy weekend here in Mugello, and we had two difficult races, but I am happy to get out of this round with points in each race. It is very important for the championship to score, even a little, at each race. We have two other rounds coming, so I will reset and start the next round with a more positive mindset. I am looking forward to going to Sachsenring."

Hervé Poncharal

Team Manager

"Not an easy weekend for the Tech3 E-Racing team. For the first race, we had hot and dry conditions, and for the second, it rained a lot just prior to the race, leaving a lot of water on the track, so we faced two very different scenarios. Both Alessandro Zaccone and Hikari Okubo scored points in both races, which is a positive for us. They were a bit disappointed with their performances in race 1, which I think is mainly due to their poor qualifying, because both had the pace to finish at least within the top 8. In the afternoon, we were a lot faster, especially Alessandro who recovered a few positions. Unfortunately, there was a red flag, and I think it cost us two or three positions, which would have given us a better end to the Italian GP. We need to keep our feet on the group, it is the first season with the Ducati bike, we are learning with our two riders, and the most important is that we have scored points in all four races so far. We have another two rounds before the summer break, and we will aim to get closer to the top guys. We learnt a lot today with the different track conditions, and it will help us be more competitive in the next two rounds."