The Avant Ajo MotoE rider finishes fifth in the second race of Round 1 of the 2022 FIM MotoE World Cup, held as part of the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Jerez-Angel Nieto Circuit hosted the second race of the weekend for the FIM MotoE World Cup, on a day that saw high temperatures. Hikari Okubo once again completed a solid performance in the race held on Sunday, fighting for the podium and finally achieving a positive fifth position. With this result, the Japanese rider picks up points and concludes Round 1 with a good feeling.

Okubo, who started from the third row of the grid, made a great start, going from eighth position to fifth at the first corner. He set a strong pace and, in just one lap, moved into the podium spots. The Avant Ajo MotoE rider pushed hard to stay with the leading group, but at the halfway mark the pack was broken and Okubo was left fighting in the chasing group. The Japanese rider continued to give his all in the last part of the race and, finally, crossed the finish line in 5th place.

With the conclusion of Round 1 and the first two races of the 2022 FIM MotoE World Cup, Okubo occupies 5th place in the standings with 21 points. The Avant Ajo MotoE rider will return to action at the French Grand Prix, from May 13 to 15th, which will feature another two races in the same weekend.

Results – Race 2
1. Eric Granado 14:36.321
2. Miquel Pons +0.217
3. Mattia Casadei +0.394
4. Dominique Aegerter +0.488
5. Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) +1.182

MotoE World Cup Standing 2022
1. Eric Granado 50 points
2. Dominique Aegerter 33 points
3. Miquel Pons 28 points
4. Matteo Ferrari 26 points
5. Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) 21 points

AKI AJO – TEAM MANAGER

“It’s been a really good start to the season. The MotoE campaign is a ‘different’ one because we have many more races this year, so we have made a solid start. Hikari really showed this weekend that he has experience in the class, and he rode some really smart races. He also showed that he has the potential to fight for podium positions in the future. I’m really happy.”

78 HIKARI OKUBO

“It was a good second race. We tried to fight for the podium, but the other competitors were stronger than me today. We had a very good feeling, better than in Race 1. We took important points for the championship and thanks to that we’re fifth overall. In general, it was a great start to the season, and we have shown that we have a chance to fight for a top position this year. Now it’s time to focus on the next round at Le Mans, where we’ll give 100% to try to take a good result.”