MotoE has the same pole sitter for the second time in a row! After Alessandro Zaccone took first place at the home race in Mugello almost four weeks ago, he secured pole position again in Assen. Hector Garzo and Kevin Zannoni were narrowly defeated. Lukas Tulovic fought his way to seventh place on the grid despite severe pain following his Mugello crash.
This is how the MotoE qualifying in Assen went:
The two Barcelona race winners Kevin Zannoni and Oscar Gutierrez got off to a flying start in Q1 and immediately took the lead with clear best times. No other driver could keep up with them at first, which is why there were initially many indications that the duo would make it to Q2 without any problems. But Lukas Tulovic had something to say about that and improved massively in the final phase, which earned him second place. This means that the German can take part in Q2 together with Zannoni, while Gutierrez narrowly missed out. Matteo Ferrari (5th) was also eliminated in Q1.
Q2 began with a few minutes of waiting, as the tires did not offer enough grip to do more than three flying laps in a row, but at the same time there was not enough time for a pit stop and tire change. So the MotoE riders only started their first flying laps five minutes before the end. It was Eric Granado who took the lead in the rankings ahead of Jordi Torres and Tulovic.
But of course it didn’t stay that way. Instead, Torres jumped into first place in the second attack, before Hector Garzo and Zannoni also went even faster a few moments later. However, the last word went to Alessandro Zaccone, who moved to the front in 1:39.444 minutes.
All riders then made one last attempt, but nothing changed in the front positions. Pole position for MotoE in Assen therefore goes to Zaccone, Garzo and Zannoni complete the first row. Torres comes fourth, then Nicholas Spinelli and Granado. Tulovic secures seventh place on the grid, followed by Miquel Pons, Mattia Casadei and Andrea Mantovani.
Falls and incidents:
Mattia Casadei had a scary moment in turn 15. At the end of the out lap, he was almost thrown off the track by a highsider after his rear wheel began to slide. However, he was able to avoid a crash, even though he had to drive through the gravel trap at one point.
In the final phase of Q2, Andrea Mantovani also crashed in the final chicane.