Roccoli: “MotoE? I got the call Thursday and didn’t know what to expect in FP1”

The Italian GP weekend at Mugello also saw the MotoE in action, with riders in the electric series battling it out at the Tuscan track for the first time. Among them was multi-titled Italian Supersport champion Massimo Roccoli (who recently did the double at Vallelunga), called in at the last minute to replace injured Jordi Torres aboard the second team Pons bike.

Roccoli: “I was worried as I’d never tried an electric bike”

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“The weekend started with a call from Mattia Casadei on Thursday. He asked me to go and race in MotoE at Mugello while I was doing my riding courses”, explains Massimo. “I didn’t hesitate to accept of course, and left that same evening, arriving at the track that night and out for FP1 at 8am on Friday morning. I admit I was a little worried as I knew the bike would be very heavy and I had no idea how an electric motor would react to the accelerator control”.

“The first session was complicated, but my feeling really improved from FP2 on”, continues the Italian. “I’m sorry about how qualifying went, as I ran long at the Correntaio turn and so struggled to turn the bike in due to its weight and crashed with Cardelùs, otherwise I think I’d have been further forward on the grid. Another really strange thing was starting race 1 without doing a sighting lap first. I admit I wasn’t satisfied with my race, as I also received a long lap penalty”.

“If I get the chance, I’d do it again”

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Sunday’s second race went a lot better: “I was more confident ahead of race 2, as the track conditions were great. Unfortunately, at the first turn, a crash in front of me forced me to slow and lose a lot of time, but then I made a good recovery. Without that initial obstacle, I think I could have finished in the group battling at the front, but considering the contained gap at the end I can be happy with my race anyway”.

“MotoE was more interesting than I expected”, concludes the number 55 rider. “Yes, the weight is significant and you really feel it through the hard braking points and when changing direction but when you accelerate it’s amazing to have all the power right away, so I can say I had fun. It was a new experience and one that got better the more I rode. If I were to have another opportunity, I’d do it again no question”.

Translated by Heather Watson

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