A first lap mistake dropped the Mike Di Meglio rider to the back of the MotoE field, but the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider produced an exciting fightback to claim tenth place in the first race of 2020.

• After qualifying in eleventh place for the first MotoE World Cup race of 2020 at the Circuit of Jerez – Angel Nieto, Mike Di Meglio made a strong start to the 6-lap race.
• However a mistake when braking for turn 6 on the first lap pushed him wide and lost him a number of positions. From there the Frenchman was the last of the 17 MotoE riders.
• Never a rider to give up, the 2008 125cc World Champion started to feel comfortable on his Energica Corse machine and get accustomed to Michelin’s new 2020 rear tyre as he produced an impressive comeback in the remaining five laps.
• A last lap move on Niki Tuuli gave Di Meglio tenth position, an excellent recovery. The 32-year old now feels he has a good base setting to start the second round of the season at the same circuit next week.

/// MIKE DI MEGLIO: 10^th, +8.484 s.

“I improved my lap time from qualifying and all of the weekend”

“I did a normal start but when I arrived at turn six I tried to pass (Alex) De Angelis. I released the brake, went quite wide and then (Tommaso) Marcon arrived. He nearly hit me so I had to pick up the bike and the problem was De Angelis was outside me so I had to slow down, otherwise I’d have run into his bike. Then I was last so I had to come back. What’s good is that I improved my lap time from qualifying and all of the weekend. I felt better on the bike. I saw that I need to work a little bit on how I exit the corner. I lose a little bit there and I still don’t understand this new rear tyre so well. But I think we found a good base to start next week. I will work a lot on myself, on my rhythm and on adapting to the new rear tyre. So let’s see what we can do next week!”

///JOAN OLIVÉ, Team Manager:

“Mike produced a great recovery in a category in which that isn’t easy”

“It was a difficult weekend for us in MotoE. We struggled to find the confidence in the bike. Still, Mike fought right until the end and produced a great recovery in a category in which that isn’t easy. The good point is we finished the race with a lot of information. We will also know how to start the race weekend next week, so this is a positive thing. We can race again in a few days and will take all the information from this weekend and start stronger next week.”