“Summer break is nice… but always too long!”: MotoE™ back in action at the Red Bull Ring.
Zaccone, Torres, Granado, Aegerter, Ferrari and Tulovic join the pre-event Press Conference as the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup returns for Round 5
It’s time for Round 5 of the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup, and before the track action begins in Austria it was pre-event Press Conference time. Points leader Alessandro Zaccone (Octo Pramac MotoE) was joined by closest challenger Jordi Torres (HP Pons 40), Eric Granado (ONE Energy Racing), Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP), Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) and Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-Racing) to talk business as the Red Bull Ring welcomes the electric class back from summer break.
Here are some key quotes!
Alessandro Zaccone: “Returning to the races is beautiful because the summer break is nice, but it’s always too long. I’m very happy to be here. I’m ready. I want to go on the track! I feel good after some rest. I am ready. I feel ready!
“Here it’s my first race here in the Red Bull Ring. But I’m confident that I will be fast from the beginning like always. We will see that what happens with the weather. But I think that we are we are ready for every condition!”
Jordi Torres: “Here we have many straights and also big braking points, we’ll see what happens here. I tried to learn the track on the PlayStation! I think that everybody here played it a lot with videogames! But is it is a simple track in the sense that it doesn’t have too many corners to learn but the most important is always the braking points, and how to stop your bike to be the most competitive possible. I will see what happens, a few corners to do but also many long straights and this is a big thing that can affect the races.
“I will try to be aggressive and also to stay the closest possible to the front guys. But I think this track, the Red Bull Ring is like Montmelo more or less, I think because with these longer straights it can affect our results and also can be a little groups during our short race and it can be fun here. We’ll see what happens! But for sure it’s fun this truck. Also in the video game I saw that it had many bumps but in reality it’s more flat. We’ll know tomorrow how the track is!”
Eric Granado: “I’m feeling good. It’s good to be back here at this track. I really like this country, this track, everything is so, so nice. So beautiful. And yeah, I know the track and you know this category is so competitive and I don’t think it will be advantage having ridden here before, for sure the riders will take the track in two or three laps! I think Jordi did more laps than me already! So yeah. For sure everyone will be fast. And it will be fun and competitive like always in this category. And yeah, I’m ready to go. If it’s dry or wet, we are ready to fight.
“I think we did a great job for the season. You know, we had a lot of bad luck. And now I think just the good moments will come. And for sure, I think race by race, about the championship, just finishing the last race. So we need to continue going with the points and for sure, we always think about the championship, but to do the best and do the maximum like always, to have the best race possible on Sunday.”
Dominique Aegerter: “Yeah, we’ve also shared a little bit of bad luck, I did a small mistake in Assen, in the race when I touched the white line, I crashed on the first lap. So for the championship was for sure a little disaster. But yeah, I had a few races during the summer break. Sure, some good races. So I’m in a good mood and I come from a win in Most in Supersport, for sure it helps for my mentality. And the team have already some data from 2019 from Jesko. This will help for sure to set up the bike. They know the track, and yeah I can’t wait to start tomorrow.
“I think I always tried to give my maximum and not just to race to get some points. For sure I try to give my best. I think I don’t need to push more, I just continue working like I did before. Important is the E-Pole again, to stay in the first two rows for sure. And then just to make a good start, pay attention to the track limits, try to be in a good position for the last lap. And yeah, try to be on the podium or to win the race!”
Matteo Ferrari: “In Assen we did a step forward, we worked better from Friday. And of course the E-Pole was better, this time I started in the second row. So this for MotoE is very, very important. A little bit unlucky during the first corner because I touched another rider so I lost a little bit, some positions. But in Assen, I did a lot of overtakes. So I’m happy about this. And of course in Austria it will be very important to overtake the other riders. So here, I’ll try to continue in this way with my team. And of course, when you fight always for the victory during the last few years, you have a lot of expectation, but every year is different. And this year, I have to arrive on top and this is my goal for this weekend.
“I have to improve my braking points because, of course during the first race in Jerez, but also in the other races. I don’t have a lot of feeling with the front and every race better. But I’m not at 100% at the moment. So I try to improve in that point. And of course, this track will be really nice for that.”
Lukas Tulovic: “This is the closest race to my home. It’s kind of my home race this weekend. So there will be also some German fans around here. So it’s kind of extra motivation for this weekend. And during summer break, I had two races in the European Moto2 championship, so I couldn’t rest. So I stayed fully in race mode, which for sure will help me tomorrow to get going pretty fast again on this track here in Austria. And yeah, we made a good step forward in Assen compared to the first races this year with a top five finish. But it’s still not where we want to be, when you see always in the Free Practice sessions and E-Pole always in the top three, and the first row in the race many times the holeshot, and then you finish in fifth or seventh, or whatever, for sure you’re not happy. So we have to make another step especially in the race. show a little bit more elbows and try to have some even better results.
“It’s difficult to make a plan for the weekend, because of the weather. Nobody knows how it will be on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Right now I think Saturday and Sunday are meant to be 90% rain. So let’s hope for the best. And, yeah, we just have to focus every session to be very consistent, very fast laptimes every time over and over again, to have a good rhythm and good speed for the race. And yeah, work on those braking points because it will be crucial for the race to be strong on the brakes in Turn 1, 3, and 4. And the last corner, the last two corners for the last lap battles. So we really have to work on the braking because it’s a very special track here. And yeah, speed during all those six, seven laps. E-Pole is not a problem for me, I guess. But we have to really focus on the rhythm and the speed to be able to fight in the top on Sunday.”
MotoE™ go racing at 15:30 (GMT +2) on Sunday in Spielberg, and the standings are poised ahead of the final round in Misano. Who will take the Red Bull Ring by the horns? Tune in to find out!
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