The Brazilian makes it four MotoE™ poles in four races to beat Tulovic by less than a tenth
Eric Granado (One Energy Racing) remains unbeaten in FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup E-Pole this season after beating Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-Racing) by 0.074s at the Motul TT Assen. Granado’s 1:43.114 couldn’t be beaten by World Cup leader and Free Practice pacesetter Alessandro Zaccone (Octo Pramac MotoE).
Pole position for @ericgranado! ????
A 100% pole record in 2021 for the Brazilian! ????#MotoE | #DutchGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/XDVuMfUAek
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) June 26, 2021
How Assen’s first E-Pole played out
Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) was the first rider to set a sub-1:44 lap time in E-Pole, a 1:43.968 to go 0.736s faster than the competition. Corentin Perolari (Tech3 E-Racing) cut Casadei’s advantage to 0.294s to go second, as Barcelona winner Miquel Pons (LCR E-Racing) lit up his Energica Ego Corsa’s rear wheel on the exit of Turn 5 – a mistake that cost the Spaniard, whose lap would eventually get chalked off after exiting pitlane too late anyway.
Rookie Fermin Aldeguer (Openbank Aspar Team) then went fastest overall with a 1:43.923, a new benchmark for the following riders to try and better. And that’s exactly what Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) did. The 2019 World Cup winner beat Aldeguer’s time by 0.047s to sit on provisional pole, but the Italian would immediately get shoved down to P2.
Why? Well, reigning World Cup winner Jordi Torres (HP Pons 40) – smoking his way out of Turn 11 – went 0.398s clear at the summit to set a new benchmark. Tulovic was next on track and despite a rear-end twitch at Turn 5, the German rider was now the reference thanks to a cracking 1:43.188. Second in the title race Dominque Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) slotted himself into P3 before it was just two riders left to set a lap: Granado and Zaccone.
It’s raining?! What?! ????️????
Craziness as Zaccone can’t deny @ericgranado! ????#MotoE | #DutchGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/EPooki5s3S
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) June 26, 2021
A brilliant lap from Granado saw the Brazilian take provisional pole by 0.074s, as all eyes panned to Zaccone. A tenth and a half down in Sector 1, Zaccone had pulled it back by the end of Sector 3 to be 0.121s quicker than Granado heading into the final split. However, crossing the line, the Italian couldn’t hold his advantage as the rain began to fall, with Zaccone going P3 to displace Torres from the front row.
The remaining top 10 riders
Torres leads the second row and is joined by Aegerter and Ferrari, as seventh place Aldeguer and eighth fastest Casadei are the only other riders to get within a second of polesitter Granado at Assen. Perolari and Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) complete the top 10 in another fantastic E-Pole session, as we now await race day.
Don’t miss the MotoE™ race at 15:30 local time (GMT+2) on Sunday afternoon!
Top 10:
1. Eric Granado (One Energy Racing) – 1:43.114
2. Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-Racing) + 0.074
3. Alessandro Zaccone (Octo Pramac MotoE) + 0.124
4. Jordi Torres (HP Pons 40) + 0.364
5. Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) + 0.444
6. Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) + 0.762
7. Fermin Aldeguer (Openbank Aspar Team) + 0.809
8. Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.854
9. Corentin Perolari (Tech3 E-Racing) + 1.148
10. Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) + 1.250
