Ducati MotoE Test Results: Jerez – Day 2 lap times (FP3)

Ducati, the reigning MotoGP champions, are taking over as exclusive MotoE supplier following four seasons on Energica machines, as the series also switches from an FIM ‘World Cup’ to full ‘World Championship’ in 2023.

At 225kg, Ducati’s first electric bike is approximately 35kg lighter than the Energica.

The weight-saving crusade means Ducati chose not to raise maximum horsepower beyond the 150 hp (110kW) of the Energica model – slightly more than a Triumph-powered Moto2 bike – while torque has been sliced from 220Nm (Energica) to 140Nm (Ducati).

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Nevertheless, batteries still make up 110kg of the Ducati’s weight and the V21L – which uses a ‘stressed’ carbon fibre battery case joined to an aluminium front frame – remains substantially heavier than a conventional grand prix or superbike:

Bike weight/power:

• Energica MotoE: 260kg/150hp
• Ducati MotoE: 225kg/150hp
• MotoGP Bike: 157kg/300hp
• Moto2 Rider+Bike: 217kg (if average rider weight of 65kg, bike = 152kg/140hp)
• Moto3 Rider+Bike: 152kg (if average rider weight of 65kg, bike = 87kg/60hp)

The clear weight savings made by Ducati plus other technological advances mean MotoE lap times are sure to be faster in 2023. Exactly how much quicker will become clearer at this week’s Jerez test, which runs from Monday to Wednesday.

The V21L retains Ohlins suspension, Brembo brakes and Michelin tyres but among the technical changes made by Ducati is a liquid cooling system, which means the bike can be recharged as soon as it enters the garage.

It is said to take approximately 45 minutes to reach 80% charge. However, each day at Jerez is divided into four Free Practice sessions of just 15-minutes in length, with a two-hour gap in-between, highlighting the range limitations of current battery technology:

• FP1: 10:00 – 10:15
• FP2: 12:15 – 12:30
• FP3: 14:30 – 14:45
• FP4: 16:45 – 17:00

FP3, which kicked off the second half of this week’s test, finally saw the first dry session of the week. Eric Granado was again fastest, this time with a lap of 1m 48.898s, which is within 1.5s of the circuit MotoE record on the previous Energica machine. Hector Garzo was just 0.007s slower than the LCR rider.

All 18 riders were on track, in the same session, for the first time.

It was another wet session for Tuesday’s FP2, led by Eric Granado, albeit with a lap time slower than FP1:

After a wet day one, overnight rain meant another damp start on Tuesday, but with Mattia Casadei setting the best lap of the test so far in FP1

Fastest Day 1 lap time:

• 1m 55.522s* (Luca Salvadori, Ducati)

* Wet.

Official Jerez lap records

Qualifying:

• MotoGP: 1m 36.170s (Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati, 2022)
• Moto2: 1m 40.667s (Remy Gardner, Kalex, 2021)
• Moto3: 1m 44.988s (Andrea Migno, Honda, 2021)
• MotoE: 1m 47.778s (Eric Granado, Energica, 2021)*

*Went faster in the race (below).

Race:

• MotoGP: 1m 37.669s (Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati, 2022)
• Moto2: 1m 41.313s (Sam Lowes, Kalex, 2021)
• Moto3: 1m 46.060s (Jaume Masia, Honda, 2020)
• MotoE: 1m 47.473s (Eric Granado, Energica, 2021)

Fastest 2022 Jerez MotoE lap:

• 1m 48.120s (Hector Garzo, Energica)

The new Ducati has reached a top speed of 275 km/h in private tests at Mugello, which is a fraction quicker than the Energica during last year’s Italian Grand Prix weekend. The highest MotoE speed at the 2022 Jerez round was 228.3km/h, by both Maria Herrera and Hikari Okubo.

Each MotoE race is between 6 and 8 laps in length, with the same points scoring system as the GP classes. The 2023 season consists of 16 races, at eight European Grands Prix, from May to September.

The MotoE World Cup was won by Matteo Ferrari in 2019, then twice by Jordi Torres (2020 and 2021), with Dominique Aegerter lifting last year’s title.

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Monday’s opening day at Jerez saw Pramac’s Luca Salvadori and Gresini’s Matteo Ferrari finishing first and second on the wet timesheets courtesy of laps set in FP2.

The combined day one times were as follows: