Nicholas Spinelli: third consecutive podium in MotoE

Friday, September 12th

The MotoE Free Practice opened the home weekend with a session cut short by a red flag, caused by a crash involving Nicholas Spinelli — fortunately without consequences for the rider.
Before the interruption, both Spinelli and Tibor Varga were steadily improving their lap times, fully attacking the stopwatch.

In the Practice session, crucial for direct access to Q2, Spinelli saw several fast laps cancelled due to yellow flags and track limits. Despite these setbacks, his pace secured him 7th place and a spot in Q2, ready to fight for pole. It was more of a working session for Tibor Varga, who focused on bike development to improve setup and feeling ahead of qualifying.

In Q1, Varga aimed for a competitive lap. Thanks to the team’s strategy and his efforts, he achieved a clear improvement compared to the morning sessions, though not enough to join Spinelli in Q2. That left the Italian to defend the team’s colors in the decisive session for pole position. Spinelli immediately found the right rhythm, staying among the frontrunners from the opening laps, and delivered another solid qualifying that earned him 4th on the grid for both races of the weekend.

Saturday, September 13th

A masterful start for Nicholas Spinelli once again in Misano: from 4th to 2nd already at the first corner, immediately chasing down valuable championship points. Tibor Varga also made a quick recovery, gaining two positions and moving into the points right from lap one.
In the 7 laps of Race 1, a fierce battle for the podium unfolded, with Spinelli managing to break away from his rivals in the closing stages, though missing out on victory after a final failed attempt. The Italian finished 2nd, securing his third podium of the season and closing the gap to the championship leader. Varga, meanwhile, brought home a solid 14th place and more world championship points.

Race 2 had a different outcome — shorter but no less intense. After another strong start, Varga crashed out at Turn 14 on lap two, escaping unscathed but forced to retire. Spinelli’s race also ended abruptly when a rival crashed while attempting to overtake him: Nicholas couldn’t avoid the incident and, like his teammate, was forced to retire early.

Comments

Despite the podium, Nicholas Spinelli is disheartened after his unlucky DNF in the second race:
“It was a good weekend, even though I was physically unwell both Friday and Saturday and had very little energy. I still had a great feeling with the bike and felt I had strong pace already from 4th in qualifying. In Race 1 maybe I made a few mistakes despite finishing 2nd — I really felt I could have won. I’m very sorry about Race 2, where I couldn’t avoid another rider’s bike. If I had managed to bring home another good result, we would have arrived in Portimão with a better chance of fighting for the championship. Now it’s more complicated, but we’re still ready to give our best. Thanks to all our sponsors for the support and to the team for the great work done. See you in Portugal.”

Tibor Varga was disappointed with the weekend but is already focused on the last GP:
“I’m sorry because I felt I could have done even better this weekend. I had some difficulties in Race 1, even though I managed to recover a couple of positions. In Race 2 I didn’t really get the chance to show my potential, but I’ll keep working hard ahead of the final round in Portimão.”