Thanks to a P4 finish in Race 1, Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) secured the 2024 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Championship crown following a dramatic end to the race that saw Kevin Zannoni (Openbank Aspar Team) crash out from the lead on the penultimate lap. That handed Mattia Casadei (LCR E-Team) the P1 baton and the Italian made it count to win on home turf to finish ahead of Alessandro Zaccone (Tech3 E-Racing) and teammate Eric Granado.
Zannoni got a great launch from the middle of the second row and when he found his way past Casadei and to the front of the pack, the Italian was able to build a small gap. It wasn’t big enough to be comfortable though and at the final corner on the penultimate lap, Zannoni - who still had hopes of becoming a Champion - crashed out. Crucially, this promoted Garzo – who had kept his powder dry – from P5 to P4. In other words, a title-winning position.
Casadei kept his cool to win in Misano, but it was a victory that brought mixed emotions as the reigning Champion relinquished his crown to Garzo. The latter tried his best to make a move for P3 on Granado on the last lap, but the Brazilian held on as Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) finished a close P5.
Garzo took to the podium post-race to celebrate that much-craved title win, as attention then turned to the final race of the year.
Gutierrez beats Casadei to grab final race victory of 2024
The #99 comes from P6 on the grid to win Race 2 in Misano as LCR's Casadei and Granado complete the final rostrum of 2024
With the Championship settled, Race 2 in Misano was all about trying to end the year on as high a note as possible - and Oscar Gutierrez (Axxis-MSI) did just that. The #99 came from P6 on the grid to win for the third time as he fended off the close challenge of Mattia Casadei (LCR E-Team), and it was a happy Saturday for LCR as Eric Granado ended his tough 2024 with a double podium finish at the San Marino GP.
Gutierrez got a great launch from the outside of the second row to pounce straight into the top three, as Casadei again earned himself the holeshot. As we've seen so often in 2024, the fight for the podium was relentless and heading into the closing stages, a 16-wheel electric freight train had formed at the front.
Gutierrez's race-winning move came with two and a half laps to go at the ferociously fast Curvone, and despite the threat from the LCR duo on the final lap once the top three broke clear, Gutierrez held firm to end the year in style - and claim P3 in the overall standings.
Casadei's P2 to back up his win from earlier in the day made sure the #40 walked away from the season with a silver medal, with Kevin Zannoni's (Openbank Aspar Team) P5 finish in Race 2 - behind Granado and teammate Jordi Torres - seeing him claim P4 in the World Championship. Meanwhile, World Champion Hector Garzo crossed the line in P7 to see him end the campaign on 246 points, 15 clear of Casadei.
And just like that, the 2024 season draws to a close. Congratulations to our worthy Champion, Hector Garzo, and the Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) team for a sensational year. What a season of electric class racing it's been again, and it's safe to say we can't wait to get the ball rolling again in 2025.
Quotes: Hector Garzo is crowned 2024 FIM Enel MotoE™ World Champion
How does it feel to become a World Champion?
"Thank you very much, for sure it feels amazing. I think it’s a feeling that I have to realise a little bit but for sure I’m so happy for me and my team."
How do you manage winning the title in Race 1 and then going again for Race 2?
"Well for sure this weekend has been a little bit crazy on emotions. Also I was quite nervous yesterday because the qualifying session and also the free practice were not the best. But well, going out in MotoE on the third row is always complicated because there is not much margin to overtake. I think we managed quite well and for sure the work we have been doing all the season, we didn’t win here, but all the podiums that we had in a row I think was the key to arriving here and being in this position."
How were the nerves in the late stages of Race 1?
"More or less, for sure I was feeling super nervous at the beginning of the day I think last night I slept like two hours. For sure I tried to realise in my mind that it was like another race, one more race in the championship. I tried to focus on overtaking in the first few laps, because if not I knew that Mattia had a really good rhythm. Kevin really surprised me because the rhythm was so fast until his crash but for sure I tried to focus on and follow Eric and yeah, in the last lap I really wanted the podium but well it is what it is, I really took it quite calm because I said, ‘P4 is OK, you have it and the next one you can try it’."
Talk about the highs and lows of 2024...
"For sure the toughest moment of the season was in Le Mans. I was feeling so strong, I didn’t make the pole position but, two 0s in one weekend was really, really tough, I think I was the first one of all the riders to make two 0s in a row. Not the last but yeah the first one! I was really sad after Le Mans and I think it was a really good point for reflection on my personality and also for the work that we needed to do. And well for sure, things changed after Mugello Race 2. I completely changed my mind, I didn’t doubt myself and I really thought that we could make it. Mugello has been a track that normally every year has cost me a lot and the second race in Mugello in third position was a really good way to start again the rhythm to fight for the title.
"And after this I think came Assen, P3 and P1, the best moment was in Germany in the home GP of my team, both races, both victories. And also Austria was really, really, really important. I had 25 points of advantage but already there were 100 points in play, no? I think the best moment was Austria, to try to fight with my head, with all my nerves and try to enjoy and try to fight until the end."