Current leader in the standings of 2022 FIM Enel MotoE World Cup Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt IntactGP) clinched the pole position on last lap at Assen.
The TT Circuit Assen welcomed teams and riders for round four of the season with a deceivingly sunny and warm Thursday. On Friday, however, things were quite different because after a wet FP1 session, Free Practice 2 was written off the schedule due to heavy rain and treacherous conditions, but when the time for qualifying came, the sun was out again and the show – as usual – did not disappoint.
After making it through Q1, it took the whole final qualifying session for the Swiss rider to pip Brazil’s Eric Granado (LCR E-Team), who up to that point looked well on the way to claiming pole position with his considerable speed – especially in the fast-flowing last two sectors of the track.
The two riders, who combine for four wins (a pair apiece) out of six races in the 2022 FIM Enel MotoE World Cup, will be joined on the front row by Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE), whose Achille’s heel this afternoon was to be found in sectors three and four. The 2019 Champion managed to secure a front-row start by a mere 0.027secs over #27 Mattia Casadei (Pons Racing).
Granado’s teammate Miquél Pons was fifth and a mere half a second away from the top, but Niccolò Canepa (WithU GRT RNF MotoE) was more on the backfoot speed-wise with a 1.3secs gap from Aegerter. He finished sixth ahead of Hector Garzó (Tech 3 E-Racing), his teammate Bradley Smith, Marc Alcoba (OpenBank Aspar Team) and Xavi Fores (OCTO Pramac MotoE).
The cancellation of FP2 appeared to really hurt the returning and reigning two-time MotoE World Cup Champion Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40), who could not make it into Q2 and will therefore line up in eleventh place on the grid. Ironically enough, the time set in Q1 by the experienced and ever cheerful Spanish rider would have placed him in sixth position on the grid had he made that lap in the final qualifying session.
Qualifying started with a spectacular crash by Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) at the Geert-Timmer chicane, but the Japanese rider luckily unscathed after the highside.
Source: Energica Motor Company
Photo: MotoGP
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