Tech3 E-Racing travelled alongside the rest of the paddock to the famous TT Circuit Assen, for round four of the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Championship. Riders Alessandro Zaccone and Hikari Okubo were both coming from a decent weekend overall at the Sachsenring, and headed to the Cathedral of Speed with hopes to close the first half of their championship in the best way possible.
Just like every Friday, the electric class was hitting the track fresh and early at 8:30 local time (GMT+2) for Practice 1. Italian Alessandro Zaccone seemed to get on pretty well with the Cathedral of Speed as he completed the session in seventh, with a fastest of 1’42.823, less than one second away from the fastest. His teammate Hikari Okubo rode in 1’43.059 this morning as he took P11 of the first practice. In the second practice, Alessandro appeared more and more confident on his electric Ducati as he continued to improve, taking his lap time down to 1’41.677, to claim P6 in the combined standing, meaning that the number 61 qualified directly for Q2 for the second week in a row. As the track got hotter, Japanese Okubo also rode faster just before lunch time, with a best in 1’42.459 which placed him in sixteenth overall.
The last qualifying sessions before the break followed in the afternoon, with Hikari trying to go for the first two places of Q1 at 17:00 LT (GMT+2). The native from Tokyo seemed to feel a bit more comfortable on the Ducati V21L as the lap times were faster. On his fourth flying lap, he rode in 1’41.485, almost one second faster than in the morning, but that was not enough to make it to Q2 as he finished in fifth of the session. He will start both races from the thirteenth place on the grid. In Q2, all riders were very close to each other, but Alessandro’s time in 1’41.161 eventually got him the seventh place on the grid for Saturday’s race. The electric action will return tomorrow, with race 1 scheduled at 12:15 (GMT+2), and race 2 at 16:10, as both Tech3 E-Racing riders will be on the lookout for more points before the summer break.
Alessandro Zaccone
| Grid Postition: 7 | Time: 1'41.161 | Laps: 5 |
"We did a good job with the bike today, and I think that we are working in the right way. A lot of riders are fast, so I am sure that both races will be fun tomorrow. We did our best qualifying of the season, so I am happy with the job. Let’s enjoy the races!”
Hiraki Okubo
| Grid Position: 13 | Time: 1'41.485 | Laps: 6 |
"I am pretty disappointed with today to be honest. We never really found the right feeling or the right setting for the track. We will start far on the grid, and I will do my best in both races tomorrow."
