MotoE™ hits boiling point at Misano: Ferrari wins the race, Torres takes the title as the top two clash

2021-09-29 15:07
The top two clash, one goes down, a penalty is given, Ferrari gets back on top... and Torres is crowned the 2021 Cup winner

The final race of the 2021 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup had everything on the line. On the way in, Jordi Torres (HP Pons 40) had eight points in hand over Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP), and the two at the top in the standings would also prove the key protagonists in the drama. After an almighty duel between the duo, with the crown on the line, the contest ended in contact as Aegerter dived up the inside. Torres fell, although he remounted, and in parc ferme the verdict from the Stewards was in: Aegerter was given a Ride Through penalty, or the equivalent time, which was 38 seconds. That put him just ahead of Torres after the Spaniard made it to the line.. which wasn't enough for the Swiss rider. So it's #TwoTimeTorres at Misano.

That drama also decided the podium, with what had been a fight for third becoming the fight for victory. And it was King of Misano Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) who came out on top, winning the last race of the season to get back on the podium for the first time in 2021 - and extending his record at Misano to 5 wins from 7 races. Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) took second after more impressive speed, the only rider on the rostrum in both races at the season finale, with Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) rounding out the year in third.

It was Casadei who got the holeshot going into the first corner, with Aegerter attacking Eric Granado (ONE Energy Racing) and Ferrari taking the long way around the outside to jump both and slot into third. He duelled Aegerter briefly, with Granado just behind, as Torres took the lead and then took off in the lead too.

On the second lap, the race leader had begun to open up a considerable gap, jolting Aegerter into action and the Swiss rider moving past Ferrari into P2. He then got the hammer down, and was able to close back up on his race-leading rival.

From there, a duel for the ages erupted as Aegerter threw the kitchen sink at trying to take over at the front, and it was spectacular as the two exchanged the lead. Torres wasn't backing down and Aegerter was putting it all on the line. But with just a handful of corners to go, it hit boiling point. Aegerter lunged for it, the two made contact, and Torres found himself on the floor... leaving Aegerter free in the lead to cross the line first. The Spaniard managed to remount and finish in P13, but it seemed the Cup was decided.

The incident was immediately put under investigation, however. After a tense wait in parc ferme, a penalty was announced and 38 seconds were added to Aegerter's race time for irresponsible riding. That's the equivalent of a ride through penalty in MotoE™ as Misano as per the regulations, and it dropped him to 12th - just ahead of Torres. The Spaniard had, therefore, taken the crown after all.

Behind all that drama for the overall Cup, there was a race to be decided too. The trio who'd been locked in their own battle for much of the race; Ferrari, Casadei and Pons, were on the podium. The Gresini rider was back on top, just ahead of Casadei, with Pons a few more tenths back but the rookie fast once again.

Fourth went to the absolute wire, with Kevin Zannoni (LCR E-Team) putting in a stunner but only just, just, holding off the final electric samba of the season from Granado. Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) was next up, with Fermín Aldeguer (Openbank Aspar Team), Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), Andrea Mantovani (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) and Corentin Perolari (Tech 3 E-Racing) completing the top ten.

Aegerter was P12 and Torres P13, and with a helping hand from his teammate. Jasper Iwema saw the Spaniard had crashed, waited for him, and followed him home. Every point can count.

In the end, it was a one-point swing as the dust settles, with Torres ending the season seven clear of Aegerter. Ferrari leapfrogged Granado by just two points to take third overall, with Alessandro Zaccone (Octo Pramac MotoE) ending the year in fifth overall after his Race 1 crash and sitting Sunday out. And that's a wrap on a dramatic, thrilling and truly electric season. We hope you enjoyed it... now recharge for 2022!

RESULTS
MotoE™ Race 2 Podium
1 Matteo Ferrari - Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE - Energica - 13'54.140
2 Mattia Casadei - Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse - Energica - +0.348
3 Miquel Pons - LCR E-Team - Energica - +1.038
The MotoE™ podium L-R: Casadei, Ferrari and Pons
Matteo Ferrari: "l’m really happy. During the race I didn’t expect this result because I started very well and at the first corner I was third, but every rider today pushed a lot in the first laps so fortunately I maintained the position and continued ti improve ap by lap. With the used tyre I was comfortable so I did a very good lap mid-race and fortunately closed all the corners, compare to last year where Domi passed me. Happy to be here, and to finish third in the standings."
Ferrari emerged victorious from the drama
Torres led Casadei earlier in the race
Granado fought Ferrari and Pons initially too
Ferrari and Pons battled again
#TwoTimeTorres: the 2021 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup winner is the inimitable Jordi Torres!

He's won in Moto2™, he's won in WorldSBK, and last season he took on a new challenge in the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup. And it went pretty well as Jordi Torres took the crown despite being a rookie, putting together a consistent season and a fast one too. The Spaniard returned to the field in 2021, and he's now become the first rider to win the Cup twice, back-to-back no less.

Torres' ascent to the Grand Prix paddock was preceded by two titles in the Moto2™ class in the CEV, and he became a popular face in the intermediate class of Grand Prix racing thereafter. He took his maiden Grand Prix win at the Sachsenring in 2013, and that season took two more podiums too.

From Moto2™ he moved to WorldSBK for 2015 and added another feather to his cap with a race win at the end of the season in Qatar, impressing once again. 2018 then saw 'Spanish Elvis' make five appearances in MotoGP™ as a replacement rider, and he scored a point in the season finale - no mean feat in one of the closest eras in Grand Prix history.

2020 saw Torres take on MotoE™ for the first time, and the Spaniard got first podium on home turf in the second race of the season at Jerez. He took two more podiums at Misano and then, in France, tasted the top step for the first time in the electric series. He wrapped up the crown the next day.

This year, the rookie had become the reigning Cup winner and Torres had a target on his back. But he kept it calm - and fast - and started the season with a podium in Jerez. Another came at Catalunya, and Assen, and the Spaniard arrived at the double-header finale with a very real shot at the crown. In Race 1 the gloves came off and he battled for the win, able to sneak through at the final corner amid some drama, and that saw him heading into the last showdown of the season ahead.

After an incredible duel against closest rival Dominique Aegerter, Torres had contact from the Dynavolt Intact GP rider and slid out - remounting for P13. And in the end that was just enough for the crown, with the Swiss rider receiving the equivalent of a ride-through penalty to drop him to P12.

Another year, another crown: #TwoTimeTorres put on another incredible show in 2021. Enhorabuena, Jordi!
Jordi Torres: "I never could imagine that I could win again this year. Maybe last year, our win had some luck, calculating very well how our points were, but this year we're more concentrating on our way, in the sense of improving the bike and trying to be as calm-minded as possible in the races to avoid mistakes. But arriving in the last two races with many options to win the title is a lot of satisfaction for our team, but to arrive here with these options it means we continued to push and be aggressive, very fast, during all the season. But we know that doing many races we tried to save points, coming fifth or seventh, but if we were able to do a great race we tried do. And we tried all season to not make a mistake and in these last two races we tried to be aggressive, fast, at the beginning of the weekend, in any condition, and put all the cards on the table and show how the performance is in the last two races.

"Trying to do all races at this pace and as aggressive as today, in some races we would fall. All season we tried to be at 90 or 95%, but for sure this weekend, and not just me, four or five guys tried to do 100% to stay on top, it's the one chance to win the title. And that's what we did, to fight for victory.

"I knew Domi needed to overtake me and win the race to win the title, he's also a great racer and did a great championship, able to win it. But I knew that if you try to overtake under these conditions - when I'm trying to brake late - and he saw two or three times that it was difficult to overtake me like that because he went wide. I knew on the last lap he'd try everything but in this condition he wasn't able to do it well, we crossed lines and I couldn't enter the corner, I tried to pick the bike up as fast as possible. But he hit me, I hit the ground and I went to my bike, tried to run and get to the end because you never know if you take one or two points it could be necessary in the title. And I saw Jasper Iwema waited for me to give me some help, if I took one point more it could have been needed. I want to say thanks to him.

"When I saw the result and the flag I started to cry, I felt down, I felt like I was a loser and lost the title. I tried to squeeze the maximum in this race and focus 100% to do my pace, and when Domi tried to overtake me I tried to be calm to not make a mistake and manage well the situation. But all this work I did, and the work my team did all this year to arrive here, it's like well.. all this in the rubbish and start again! I cried and arrived to my people, when I entered the pits they all said 'ok take a break, don't worry, we'll see what happens'. I was still crying, and then when I saw the result from Race Direction it became happy tears, a rollercoaster of emotion, and I'm tired now after that! But we're happy for this happy ending, and we make a lot of notes for next season to continue in this direction; fast, aggressive, great results, but we know where we need to change to be safer in that performance."

Source: Dorna Sports

Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story