The opening official test for the 2020 FIM Enel MotoE World Cup has drawn to a close at the ‘Circuito de Jerez’ in Southern Spain. This was after three days of practice, nine sessions and 4.5 hours of track-time for the 17 riders – all riding identical Ego Corsa machines – and 11 teams who attended the event.
Blessed by perfect weather conditions and unusually high temperatures, caused by the presence of an anti-cyclone hovering over the region, the stars of the series – a mix of returning riders and newcomers – had the chance to put their Ego Corsa machines through their paces, with very interesting and exciting results for the season ahead.
In the end, it was reigning MotoE World Cup Champion Matteo Ferrari (Team Trentino Gresini MotoE) who came out on top, courtesy of a 1’47.494secs lap-time set during the second day of action – which turned out to be around one and a half seconds faster than the last time MotoE bikes took to the track at Jerez.
“It was a good test”, said Ferrari. “We made a big step forwards set-up wise but there are still some changes to make to determine if the direction we’re taking is the right one – and there’s no better situation to do so than during testing. […] I set some good lap-times which came quite naturally, so this is surely a good sign.”
But Ferrari had some fierce competition to deal with, starting from last year’s double winner at Valencia’s season finale Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), who was consistently near the top of the timesheets to eventually finish second quickest – just 0.052secs from the Italian.
Of the seven MotoE rookies who got to grips with the Ego Corsa at Jerez for the first time, former Moto2 race winner Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt IntactGP) was the one who impressed the most, as he led the final free practice to finish third in the combined timesheets – and only around two tenths of a second slower than Ferrari. The experienced Swiss rider showed great adaptability and speed, and really stepped up his game on days two and three.
“The test went well”, said Aegerter. “We had a plan with the team, we followed it through and we managed to improve step by step. Obviously I had to learn how to ride the Ego Corsa as it differs in some ways from what I am used to – for example I had to forget about the rear foot-operated brake. Also the smaller number of laps we can run on one charge meant you had to make the most of each circuit. The bike is very good all around, and so are its components. I heard a lot about its torque, but to me what stood out the most was the corner speed, which in some areas of the track was higher than Moto2. Overall I’m happy with the work done and I’m excited.”
The top-five was completed by two well known riders not only in MotoE, but on the World Championship scene: Bradley Smith (WithU Motorsport) and Alex De Angelis (OCTO Pramac MotoE), fourth and fifth, respectively.
Alongside MotoE riders and teams, Energica’s test squad was also on track with the Modena-based company’s official test rider, Alessandro Brannetti, who brought forward the development work of the Ego Corsa and – just like all MotoE riders – tested the new spec-tyres provided by Michelin for the coming season.