Only in its third season, the MotoE World Cup filled the tracks with emotions, and last weekend had an outcome not suitable for cardiacs. At a controversial end, Jordi Torres retained his title, after Dominique Aegerter was penalized on Thursday for causing the Spaniard to crash on the last lap.
Aegerter, who started fourth in the overall standings, needed to finish ahead of Torres if he wanted to challenge for the crown, so he focused on pressuring the eventual champion during the final laps, with extremely dangerous maneuvers that ended with an incident.
The Swiss, who decided not to race on the Supersport class to take his chances on the MotoE finale, braked hard at the last minute at the turn, letting his rear wheel slide and hitting Torres, who flew off the track and took a heavy blow.
Early Celebration
Aegerter, removing all responsibility for the accident, continued straight to the finish line and even made a euphoric celebration that left everyone stunned at the unethical move on his opponent. However, the referees raised the sign that the action was under investigation.
After the review, the Swiss Aegerter received a 39-second penalty, which ended his hopes and dampened the celebration that had begun with his teammates and fans present in Misano.
The penalty was just the right measure, since the authorities could have imposed a lesser penalty that still gave the Intact GP representative as Champion, but given such an act of malice at an important moment, the decision seemed the right one.
As a result, Torres became the bi-champion of the electric motorcycles, after a fierce campaign against excellent riders. By retaining the crown, he becomes the most successful rider in the short history of the event.
“We tried to give our 100% in today’s race and it was reflected on the track. In the end, Aegerter caught us and overtook us, always in a very aggressive way, until one of those attempts led to contact, where maybe he went too far and I crashed. At that moment I was overtaken, destroyed, but I got back on the bike and tried to make it to the end of the race,” described Torres.
“Behind me there is a very generous, hard-working team, and we all work in the same direction, making things work out so well. Thanks to them, to Sito and to the sponsors for this year, we have done it again,” said the Spaniard with emotion.
An Emotional Season
The 2021 season of the MotoE left no room for breath in terms of high competition. The tournament was marked from the beginning with unexpected surprises, such as the leadership of Alessandro Zaccone, who led the standings until the last round. However, the Italian was deflating and could not withstand the final push, where more experienced drivers ended up surpassing him.
Eric Granado, one of the fastest drivers during the entire competition, was unable to make his skills count in the victory, as some mistakes on different tracks cost him key points to get to the top of the standings. His win at Le Mans seemed to catapult him, but inconsistency was a common factor in his performance.
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Aegerter was one of the rivals to beat, and so it was. Until the very last breath, the Swiss rider put up a fight, and showed his versatility by dominating the Supersport tournament and at the same time was able to fight until the end to become the MotoE champion.
Finally Torres, quietly, was drawing on his experience. Without being at the forefront, but always on the podium, the Spaniard showed an unparalleled mystique, and along with the teamwork that fully supported him, he was able to be crowned for the second consecutive year.
Written by I Jhonattan González
