FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup riders talk adaptation, asphalt and experience ahead of Round 3

Before the track action begins at the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, Thursday saw a few familiar faces from the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup grid sit down for a Press Conference debrief. Points leader Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) was joined by second overall – and fellow rookie – Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40), as well as Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), Lukas Tulovic (Tech 3 E-Racing), Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) and Sammarinese home hero Alex De Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE) to look ahead to the weekend, with plenty to talk about. Adapting to the bike? Check. New track surface at Misano? Check.

Here are the key quotes from those present!

Dominique Aegerter: “My feeling is quite good, I could do some Moto2 races since Jerez so I didn’t lose any racing experience! I know the track from the past in Moto2, sure I think people who already have experience in MotoE maybe have a small advantage, but I know the track quite well. We’ll see how the bike works on a different track, until now it was only Jerez, but the team have some experience here from last year, I feel good with the bike and I’m looking forward to the first practice.

“The lucky thing is now I know how the MotoE bike feels, so I won’t be as surprised as in March when I did the first test! So I know how the bike will react and how I need to ride, but for sure the first two or three laps it’ll be a bit special to adapt to the MotoE bike, but I have a good feeling and we worked quite hard in this small break to be ready for these two race weekends.”

Jordi Torres: “The first podium is important, but the most important thing is to get more feeling, and more things to improve in as little time as possible because we know that these guys ride very fast and know the MotoE bike very well. We need to push in this sense, to be as fast as possible, get the feeling and try to keep in the front group like in Jerez. In these races, you can be lucky, stay there and see what happens… anything can happen in the races!

“Having less experience on the bike might also be better, haha! You’ve had less crashes and less respect maybe… because these bikes need respect, they’re heavier and you don’t know how the behaviour of the bike or tyres are, the races are shorter, maybe with less fear you can push more! I don’t know, everyone is pushing 100% but maybe a crash on these bikes you’ll remember for a while…”

Eric Granado: “For sure Jerez was a good track for me, I was fast at both weekends, the second was more difficult and I needed a comeback in the second race… finally it was what it was but I take the positives, I was fast and confident, we did a great job with the team, so now the focus at Misano is the same. Go step-by-step and arrive at the race with a good setting, ready to fight. That’s the main target and I want to make a comeback for the title.

“It would be better if I’d finished in a better position, it’s also good to have that advantage and be there with the points, now I am a bit far but we need to focus on this race, I want to go race by race and continue the great jo we’ve been doing since Valencia last year. I’m confident and want to continue on the same line.”

Lukas Tulovic: “In Jerez we’ve made progress from FP1 to FP3 and to E-Pole, so it’ll be the same target to make progress during the sessions, and not focus on the first session to be near the top because it won’t be possible for me to be directly in the top positions in the first session. The positive is that we have race data rom last season, Hector Garzo was really fast here, and that can help us a lot to improve, to see the data to compare. Last year in Moto2 the track was new for me here in the World Championship, so I know the track and it wasn’t so bad last year! So I’m quite positive for this weekend.

“The races always there’s a lot of chaos, especially in the first lap as everyone’s trying to get to the front! Because the races are so short, sprint races. You have to be on point and super precise, like in E-Pole but then you’re on you own and you can focus on your points, make your lap perfectly. In the race you have to pay attention to the others, can’t always ride your line… it’s more difficult there than riding the lap on my own.”

Matteo Ferrari: “I’m very happy to be here in Misano, with some fans at the weekend for the first time… it’ll be really good! It will be a bit different because there is new asphalt here compared to last year, and we didn’t do a test… everyone has been on different machinery too, like me; last weekend I was in Aragon with Superbike, so I’ll try to switch my mind to MotoE! I’ll try my best, because it’s my home GP, there are three races and I have to recover a gap… we’ll see!

“We’ll have to see in FP1 with the different tyre, different asphalt… I’ll start with last year’s setup, but every time you have to find a different way to be fast, I don’t know… I try to be a chameleon, it’s important to adapt to the bike and we’ll see tomorrow.”

Alex De Angelis: “It’s beautiful to be here in my home GP, and finally we’ll have some people in the grandstands so it’s nice to know that friends, sponsors and family will come to watch me! And it’s kind of a responsibility! I know I’m fast here, last year I was on pole, and so I like this track… I feel quite sure of that, but then I didn’t score points last year with two crashes. We need to be fast but we can’t lose points. Until now I had fourth four times, and I really want a podium! And it would be fantastic to get it here at my home GP. This is our target, and as always to be fast in Free Practice, qualifying and the race.

“The bike is a bit different compared to last year, the tyres and the response to the gas, and I made a mistake in Jerez off the start… and it was strange but nice that in the second race I had a wheelie off the start! This weekend I’ll focus on the start because with a short race, to start well and not make a mistake is important. Especially because the first few riders go so fast, if you lose them immediately, the race is practically finished.”

That’s it from Thursday! Keep up to date with all the Friday news and tune in for another stunning E-Pole session on Saturday, before MotoE™ get ready to race at 10:05 (GMT +2) on Sunday.
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