Alessandro Zaccone secured pole position for the MotoE Italian GP this afternoon. The qualifying session was threatened by rain, which had some impact on Q1, but it was held mostly on a dry track.
During Q1, only two riders led: Lukas Tulovic (Dynavolt Intact GP), who was the first to set a flying lap, and Andrea Mantovani (Klint Forward), who overtook the German rider just a few seconds later with the session’s best time.
Mantovani then suffered a highside, being caught off guard by the damp track at turn six. The rain had reached Mugello, though not intensely. However, it was enough to ensure that all riders had only one attempt to set good times in the first qualifying session.
HUGE HIGHSIDE 😱
— MotoE™ (@MotoEofficial) May 31, 2024
Just as he went to P1, Andrea Mantovani gets caught out by the rain 🌦️#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/8mtTVl2vc5
Miquel Pons (Axxis-MSi) finished third, missing direct qualification by 0.144s. Among the other riders eliminated were Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar) and Óscar Gutiérrez (Axxis-MSi), who will start 14th and 15th, respectively.
The rain did not last long in Mugello, and Q2 took place in dry conditions. Tulovic was the first to set a timed lap but was soon surpassed by Mattia Casadei (LCR E-Team). The Italian led for about half a minute until Zaccone set a better time.
The Tech3 E-Racing rider, who had already been the fastest in the second practice session, lowered the bar even further to 1m55.466s, securing pole position with a record lap. Tulovic finished second, 0.312s behind, followed by Héctor Garzó (Dynavolt Intact GP).
Championship leader Kevin Zannoni (Openbank Aspar) will start from sixth. After his highside in Q1, Mantovani could not ride in Q2 due to the state of his bike. However, the rider did not suffer any significant physical consequences.
Results: