Dominique Aegerter has taken a big step towards the 2022 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup title by qualifying on pole position for both races in the sixth and final round of the season at the Gran Premio Gryfyn di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. The Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™ rider lapped the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli as quickly as 1:43.174 in Q2, securing top spot by a margin of almost a quarter of a second. Perhaps more importantly, the only other rider left in contention for the Cup, the LCR E-Team’s Eric Granado, is set to start from Row 2 after qualifying fourth-fastest.

The latter 10-minute stanza of qualifying saw Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE™) set the initial pace with a 1:43.652, but when Granado managed to post a lap time, he went fastest on a 1:43.451. The Brazilian did not hold onto top spot for long, however, with Mattia Casadei (Pons Racing 40) clocking a 1:43.415 before Aegerter went just two thousandths of a second quicker again.

Casadei then looked like reclaiming the ascendancy, going fastest to the third sector only to lose the front and crash at the Carro corner (Turn 14). The incident triggered a yellow flag which meant Granado’s next lap would not count, although he was unlikely to improve that time around anyway.

With the chequered flag out, Granado went event quicker and while that did not matter so much, Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) subsequently managed to get himself onto the front row when he went to third on a 1:43.442. The head of the grid will therefore be Aegerter with Casadei and Torres alongside, while Granado heads up Row 2, where he will be joined by Ferrari in fifth and Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) in sixth.

Niccolo Canepa (WithU GRT RNF MotoE™ Team), Alex Escrig (Tech3 E-Racing), Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), and Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) rounded out the top 10, the latter two having come from Q1. Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE™) was second in that session when the chequered flag came out but would be bumped by Zannoni and will therefore start 11th, with Kevin Manfredi (Octo Pramac MotoE™) joining them on Row 4. Marc Alcoba (Zinia Aspar Team) is set to start from the back of the 18-bike grid after an early crash in Q1, pending the outcome of his visit to the medical centre.

With just two races to go in the 2022 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup, Aegerter leads Granado by 17.5 points. Will the Swiss rider be able to push that margin past 25 in Race 1 of the Misano weekend and clinch the title with his first ‘match point’? You cannot afford to miss the opening encounter on Saturday afternoon from 16:25 (GMT +2)!

MotoE™ Q2 Results:
1. Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) – 1:43.174
2. Mattia Casadei (Pons Racing 40) + 0.241
3. Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) + 0.268
4. Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) + 0.277
5. Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE™) + 0.478
6. Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) + 0.563
7. Niccolo Canepa (WithU GRT RNF MotoE™ Team) + 0.624
8. Alex Escrig (Tech3 E-Racing) + 0.691
9. Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) + 0.720
10. Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) + 0.847