Hector Garzo celebrates his debut pole position in MotoE at Le Mans! After a duel in qualifying against Nicholas Spinelle, he secured the best starting position thanks to a record lap of 1:39.995 minutes. Opponent Spinelli only lost 0.031 seconds on his fastest lap and is therefore in second place on the grid. Eric Granado will start the two races on Saturday from third place on the grid.
The reigning world champion Mattia Casadei successfully prevailed in the first qualifying and then took fourth place on the grid in row two. Behind him are Oscar Gutierrez and Jordi Torres, last year’s runner-up. Alessandro Zaccone, Miquel Pons, Lukas Tulovic and Kevin Zannoni complete the top 10.
This is how MotoE qualifying went:
The following ten drivers competed in the first qualifying: Maria Herrera, Chaz Davies, Andrea Mantovani, Matteo Ferrari, Kevin Zannoni, Kevin Manfredi, Mattia Casadei, Massimo Roccoli, Alessio Finello and Armando Pontone.
Mattia Casadei secured the fastest time after the first lap. He was followed by Kevin Manfredi in second place. Kevin Zannoni and Andrea Mantovani lined up behind them.
A little later Zannoni set the new best time. He lapped the Bugatti Circuit in 1:40.091 minutes, setting a new lap record in MotoE at Le Mans.
Kevin Zannoni remains at the top and reaches the second qualifying together with Mattia Casadei. Andrea Mantovani and Alessio Finello start from 13th and 14th. Behind them are Kevin Manfredi and Matteo Ferrari.
Kevin Zannoni can no longer take part in the second qualifying. After his collision with Alessio Finello, his bike is too badly damaged.
After the first few quick laps, Eric Granado was the fastest. The LCR driver moved into provisional pole position ahead of Nicholas Spinelli and Oscar Gutierrez.
With four minutes left, Hector Garzo moved to the top of the table. Jordi Torres was also able to improve his lap time and climb to third place.
Garzo and Spinelli both improve their times again. They travel the route together. Garzo sets a time of 1:39.995 minutes, Spinelli narrowly misses the 40 mark and his opponent. He takes second place.
It remains at the Garzo pole. For the first time, the Intact GP driver will start from pole position. Spinelli and Granado start with him from the front row. The German Lukas Tulovic didn’t get past ninth place, he lost more than eight tenths of a second to his teammate in pole position.
Falls and incidents:
In the first qualifying session, Alessio Finello crashed harmlessly over the front wheel in turn one. However, his bike hit Kevin Zannoni, who was riding in front of him. Both appear to have remained uninjured.