Gutierrez beats Garzo to grab maiden MotoE pole

August 16, 2024

A slender 0.066s splits the Spaniards on Friday at the Red Bull Ring ahead of a potentially title-deciding Saturday.

In a closely fought FIM Enel MotoE™ World Championship Q2 at the Red Bull Ring, Oscar Gutierrez (Axxis-MSI) grabbed his debut electric class pole position with a 1:37.970, as the #99 edged out title rival Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) by just 0.066s. For the second time in 2024, Kevin Zannoni (Openbank Aspar Team) pocketed a front row start, with the Italian 0.093s shy of pole in P3.

Garzo, the Championship leader, left it late to pounce up to the front row, but it wasn’t quite enough to beat Gutierrez. Less than two tenths split the top four on the grid after Lukas Tulovic (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) landed an impressive P4, with Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) and Miquel Pons (Axxis-MSI) rounding out the second row.

Garzo’s chief Championship chaser, Mattia Casadei (LCR E-Team), has work to do on Saturday after the Italian – who won both races at the Red Bull Ring in 2023 – had to settle for P9.

There was some drama after the session too, with Alessio Finello (Felo Gresini MotoE™) given a Long Lap penalty for a slow sector and Massimo Roccoli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) given a thee-position grid penalty for being slow on the line.

Now it’s time for race day. It’s an outside shot, but Garzo could claim the MotoE™ title in Race 2 in Austria, so make sure you don’t miss an ounce of action. Race 1 kicks off at 12:15 before the second showdown of the day at 16:10!