Tuuli back on the podium in first race of French Grand Prix

10/10/2020

The Avant Ajo MotoE rider finishes third at Le Mans and takes to the rostrum for the first time in the 2020 FIM MotoE World Cup season.

 

The great work done by the Avant Ajo MotoE team and Niki Tuuli throughout the 2020 season paid off on Saturday, with the Finn taking third position on the podium in the first race of the Round 5, the French Grand Prix. The 25-year-old managed to stay calm and focused in a contest that featured a red flag. The winner of the first ever FIM MotoE World Cup race in 2019 thus returned to the Top 3 in the sixth and penultimate contest of the year.

The E-Pole session was held on a completely dry track, in contrast to Friday’s mixed conditions. The Finn was the tenth rider out, following the order established by the combined times from practice. The Avant Ajo MotoE talent had a solid performance, stopping the clock at 1:45.053 on his flying lap. Finally, Niki Tuuli took 10th position and a place on the fourth row of the grid.

The sixth race of the 2020 FIM MotoE World Cup took place just hours later and a crash on the first lap, forced a red flag to be shown. The reduced 5-lap restarted contest began with Tuuli avoiding a big incident at the first corner, completing the first lap in second position. The Finn would be one of the front-runners for the duration and finally crossed the line in third – for his second ever MotoE podium. Tuuli is now 15th with 28 points in the overall standings.

The 7-lap second race of the French Grand Prix – the last of the 2020 season – will start tomorrow at 3:40 pm local time.

 

Results – Race1
1. Jordi Torres 8:43.391
2. Mike Di Meglio +0.166
3. Niki Tuuli (Avant Ajo MotoE) +0.557
4. Josh Hook +1.925
5. Tommaso Marcon +4.296

MotoE World Cup Standing 2020
1. Jordi Torres 104 points
2. Matteo Ferrari 86 points
3. Dominique Aegerter 84 points
4. Mattia Casadei 71 points
5. Mike Di Meglio 55 points
15. Niki Tuuli (Avant Ajo MotoE) 28 points

 

66 NIKI TUULI

“It’s a very good feeling to be back on the podium. It was a crazy race, since at the second corner there was a crash that forced me to change my line to avoid going down. After what happened, I tried to stay focused and set my own pace. Unlike previous contests that have seen a group at the front, today I was able to ride calmer knowing that the gap to the rivals behind me was greater. I tried to follow the second placed rider to hunt down the leader and I felt very comfortable. I really enjoyed this round and I am very happy to have achieved this third position today.”

Partners

EnelX MotoE World Cup