Rookie sensation Gutierrez holds off veteran Granado for stunning maiden win

May 25, 2024

A dramatic swing in the championship as Gutierrez wins for the first time while Casadei struggles to sixth and Spinelli crashes out.

The first race of the day for the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Championship at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya delivered a new winner in the MotoE™ class as rookie sensation Oscar Gutierrez (Axxis-MSI) took his first victory and in fine style. Just pipping Eric Granado (LCR E-Team), who returns to the podium for the first time since Austria last season, the top two rode home ahead of Kevin Zannoni (Openbank Aspar Team) who picked up his second podium in the last three races.

Once the lights went out, championship leader Mattia Casadei (LCR E-Team) stole the race lead at Turn 1 with Zannoni and Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) keen to keep Casadei close. Meanwhile, polesitter Granado had a tough opening lap, dropping to fifth. But the opening lap was none-more-dramatic than for Nicholas Spinelli (Tech3 E-Racing) as the three-time winner and championship contender in 2024 crashed out at the final corner.

As the race raged on, Zannoni managed to surge from his eighth place grid slot to the lead thanks to a hefty slipstream on the front straight. Garzo followed suit, dropping Casadei to third and that was only the start of the world champion’s difficulties as he eventually slipped back to sixth, bringing to an end his incredible streak of 11 podiums in a row.

Into the closing laps and a lead group of six riders all had eyes on glory. The pivotal moment of the race was the triple bubble slipstream that saw Gutierrez slingshot to the lead as the leading four went four-wide into Turn 1. Putting the hammer down, Gutierrez slammed in a new lap record that very lap to spread the pack. Granado held Gutierrez honest and going into the final lap we were poised for a showdown.

Ultimately though, Gutierrez hung on for his first victory by just 0.131s despite Granado’s best efforts. Zannoni’s third place is confirmation of his elevated 2024 form as he managed to hold off Garzo. Alessandro Zaccone (Tech3 E-Racing), who squeezed past Casadei heading into the final lap, took his second top five on the bounce.

Behind, there’ll be more questions for Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) and Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini Team) with seventh and eighth finishes respectively as they continue the search for the final few tenths they need. Rounding out the top 10 was Miquel Pons (Axxis-MSI) and Massimo Roccoli (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse).