Garzo & Tulovic head into the Sachsenring Grand Prix with a strong pace
Hector Garzo will contest the two Grand Prix races at the Sachsenring for the German Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE team from the second row of the grid, while local hero Lukas Tulovic will tackle the two sprints in ninth place after an early Q2 crash, but with strong pace.
Extremely windy conditions prevailed at the already packed Sachsenring on the Friday of MotoE practice and qualifying day, while the sun and clouds alternated. When the day began with the two qualifying sessions for the all-electric world championship class, there were still a few wet patches on the 3.67-kilometre traditional circuit due to overnight rain.
In the hope that the asphalt would dry quickly due to the strong wind, both riders went out on slick tyres on their Ducati V21L bikes, but this proved to be of little help, as the drying lasted longer than the short 15-minute session. Lukas Tulovic and team-mate Hector Garzo then struck back all the stronger in the second qualifying session.
German Lukas Tulovic ultimately finished P2 fastest and was one of the favourites going into the Q2 pole battle. After delays caused by a crash in Q1, which made it necessary to change an air fence, the 24-year-old rode swiftly out of the pit lane, but unfortunately, he was unable to set a time, as the young rider from Baden-Württemberg crashed in turn 1 after his out-lap, following an already strong third sector, and had to watch from the sidelines for the remaining minutes. This small mistake means that he will start the two sprints on Saturday, which have been shortened to ten laps, in ninth place. However, his pace gives hope that Tulovic will be able to fight back with targeted manoeuvres and be among the front runners.
Spaniard Hector Garzo also put in a strong performance. He also significantly improved his time from P1 to P2 and was only 0.169s behind his team-mate in second place before Q2 began in the late afternoon. The 26-year-old set a good pace in the ten-minute qualifying session, flashing red sectors on every lap. Yellow phases left Garzo with few chances to further improve and so his 1'26.501 classified him in a promising fourth place, from where he will lead the second row of the grid.
The two MotoE showdowns will take place on Saturday at 12:15 (CEST) and 16:10, where the forecast thunderstorms could shuffle the dice once again.
Results
P1
1. Jordi TORRES/ SPA – 1'33.374
2. Oscar GUTIERREZ/ SPA – 1'34.248 (+0.874)
3. Matteo FERRARI/ ITA – 1'34.552 (+1.178)
9. Hector GARZO/ SPA – 1'35.556 (+2.182)
15. Lukas TULOVIC/ GER – 1'37.592 (+4.218)
P2
1. Lukas TULOVIC/ GER – 1'26.553
2. Hector GARZO/ SPA – 1'26.722 (+0.169)
3. Oscar GUTIERREZ/ SPA – 1'26.846 (+0.293)
Q2
1. Alessandro ZACCONE/ ITA – 1'26.234
2. Oscar GUTIERREZ/ SPA – 1'26.296 (+0.062)
3. Nicholas SPINELLI/ ITA - 1'26.455 (+0.221)
4. Hector GARZO/ SPA – 1'26.501 (+0.267)
Not classified
Lukas TULOVIC/ GER
