Energica and the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup have arrived at ‘Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’, the venue hosting the third round of the 2021 season. With high temperatures and mixed weather expected this weekend, there is plenty of anticipation in the air ahead of the debut event for the series at the fast and technical Spanish track – with a very long straight (1047 m) – which will enable riders to exploit the full power and maximum speed of the Ego Corsa like never before.
After the first two races of 2021, one rider is sitting atop the world championship standings, Alessandro Zaccone (OCTO Pramac MotoE). The 22-year-old Italian from Rimini is the biggest surprise of this early part of the season as he showed superb confidence after a rookie year which was hampered by injuries: after winning the opening encounter in Jerez, he was very close to make it two in a row but was edged by Eric Granado (One Energy Racing) on the last lap at Le Mans, before being demoted one position due to exceeding track limits at the final turn after trying one last manoeuvre on the Brazilian opponent.
Granado, on the other hand, greatly recovered from the massive disappointment of the Spanish race (he crashed while in the lead) and managed to bounce back into title contention. He is now fourth, 13 points shy of the leader and behind both Mattia Casadei (Ongetta Sic58 Squadracorse) and Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt IntactGP), who are tied at 33 points in second and third, respectively.
Reigning champion Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) is fifth with 27 points, rounding out the ‘first’ group of riders battling for the ultimate prize, ahead of Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) who already has a 23-point gap from the top.
Saturday’s E-pole has a new set of rules in case of adverse weather conditions: if the session is declared ‘wet’ before the start, it will see all riders on track at the same time for a total duration of 30 minutes. If the rain starts falling during the ‘standard’ E-Pole, the session will be stopped and resumed with a 15-minute qualifying session – again with riders sharing the track.
The third race of the 2021 FIM Enel MotoE World Cup will begin at 16:00 local time (GMT +2) this Sunday, June 6th.