Niki Tuuli was the fastest rider in the E-Pole and tomorrow he will head the starting grid in the inaugural FIM Enel MotoE World Cup race.

It was a historic day for the Ajo MotoE Team at Sachsenring. Niki Tuuli took the first E-Pole of the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup, beating the next best rider by more than seven tenths of a second. The Finn took advantage of all the hard work from preseason: he now feels ready and motivated to race in the inaugural round of the newborn championship.

After being second on the combined FP1 and FP2 timesheets yesterday, today the Finnish youngster was penultimate to head out in the first ever E-Pole. In a session which saw the MotoE riders get just one flying lap to fight for their position on the grid, Niki produced a fantastic time, to take the first E-Pole in history. Tuuli’s pole-setting impressive benchmark 1:27.456 saw him improve on his best free practice effort by more than a second.

Following the build-up over the preseason tests and the first official free practices, the Ajo MotoE Team are all set for the first race in the history of the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup, at 10 am tomorrow, with the riders scheduled to do battle over 8 laps of the German circuit.

Results (E-Pole)
1. Niki Tuuli (Ajo MotoE Team) 1:27.456
2. Hector Garzo 1:28.243 +0.787
3. Eric Granado 1:28.254 +0.798
4. Mike Di Meglio 1:28.384 +0.928
5. Xavier Simeon 1:28.389 +0.933

66 NIKI TUULI

“I’m very happy to have taken the first E-Pole in the history of the championship. Without a doubt it’s a great start for me and the Ajo MotoE Team. We produced a superb time despite having made a couple of mistakes on our flying lap. The preparation was nerve-raking, because for the whole day you are waiting for this one lap. I was a bit nervous before going out on the track, but I felt fine on the bike. We changed something in the setup from yesterday and during today’s session I tried to keep pushing, looking for the perfect line. Tomorrow anything can happen. There are lots of good riders. Everyone can improve, so it will be a tight race. Starting from the first row is important, because here the first corner is very tight. I’ll give it my all to get a great result.”