Oscar Gutierrez can call himself MotoE race winner! The rookie prevailed in the slipstream battle in Barcelona ahead of Eric Granado and Kevin Zannoni. World Championship leader Mattia Casadei did not get past sixth place, Le Mans double winner Nicholas Spinelli crashed, as did Lukas Tulovic.
MotoE in Barcelona – Race 1: The race film
The starting line-up: 1. Granado, 2. Casadei, 3. Zaccone, 4. Spinelli, 5. Gutierrez, 6. Garzo, 7. Torres, 8. Zannoni, 9. Ferrari, 10. Tulovic, 11. Manfredi, 12. Pons, 13. Mantovani, 14. Finello, 15. Roccoli, 16. Herrera, 17. Davies, 18. Pontone
Begin: Mattia Casadei gets off to the best start and takes the lead, followed by Kevin Zannoni, who shoots up to second place. Hector Garzo, Erix Granado and Nicholas Spinelli follow. Lukas Tulovic improves by one place to ninth place.
1 round: Casadei is already several meters ahead at the front. Garzo and Granado are stuck behind Zannoni and cannot find a way past.
The double Le Mans winner crashes in the final corner T14 and is out.
2nd round: Zannoni has brought the chasing pack back to Casadei. Behind him, Garzo loses third place to Granado.
3rd round: Zannoni shoots into the lead at the start/finish line and Garzo also uses the slipstream to climb to second place. As the laps progress, Casadei also falls back to P4 behind Granado.
Tulovic crashes in turn ten and is eliminated.
4th round: Another change of leadership on the start/finish line, now Garzo is in the lead ahead of Granado and Zannoni. Meanwhile, Casadei has also fallen behind Oscar Gutierrez.
5th round: The slipstream games continue, four MotoE riders turn into turn one. Gutierrez brakes last and takes the lead ahead of Granado, Garzo, Zannoni and Casadei.
The next crashes: This time Andrea Mantovani and Chaz Davies were hit independently of each other in turn ten.
6th and penultimate round: Gutierrez drops the hammer and pulls the leading group apart a bit, for the first time there are no position changes.
7th and final round: Granado gives everything to catch Gutierrez, but is no longer within striking distance. Zannoni takes third place from Garzo, Casadei loses fifth place to Alessandro Zaccone.
Finish line: Gutierrez wins his first MotoE race, beating Granado by 0.131 seconds. Zannoni completes the podium in third place, fourth place goes to Garzo. Zaccone, Casadei and Jordi Torres follow. Matteo Ferrari comes in eighth, Miquel Pons and Massimo Roccoli complete the top ten. The last points go to Kevin Manfredi, Alessio Finello, Mattia Herrera, Armando Pontone and Mantovani, who started the race again.