Dominique Aegerter cruised to a maiden MotoE victory in the Andalucian GP at Jerez, the Swiss heading Jordi Torres while title contenders Matteo Ferrari and Eric Granado crashed out.
Pole-man Aegerter made a good start to consolidate his leading position into Turn 1, but soon came under pressure from reigning MotoE champion Matteo Ferrari, the Frenchman sending a move at Turn 5 but was unable to make it stick.
Ferrari then pushed his way into the lead with a strong move at Turn 9, before being run out wide towards the end of the tour, dropping to third behind Aegerter and new leader Alejandro Medina.
Aegerter quickly re-established himself in the lead as he put a move on Medina at Turn 9 later in the lap, instantly starting to build a gap to his pursuers as they began to battle.
Aegerter’s victory chances looked set to be in danger as defending race winner Eric Granado fought his way into second with a couple tours remaining, having set a fastest lap nearly three-tenths quicker than the leading Intact GP machine despite passing two riders.
Granado’s hoped were dashed just seconds later though, as he was wiped out by Ferrari at Turn 6 as the Gresini pilot tried to put a late move on Mattia Casadei for third.
Ferrari ran way too hot into the tight right hander, clipping the rear wheel of the Brazillian’s Energico Ego and taking the pair down.
Ferrari retired on the spot, while Granado was able to rejoin the fray and salvage three points for 13th.
All this allowed Aegerter to cruise home to a maiden win without challenge, the Moto2 race winner taking the chequered flag 2.688 seconds clear of Jordi Torres-who secured his maiden MotoE rostrum result.
A hard battle for the final spot on the podium was brewing behind the Spaniard meanwhile, Niccolo Canepa starting the final tour with the position but under pressure from the recovering Casadei-who had fallen back as a result of trying to avoid the out-of-control Ferrari- and Alex De Angelis.
Casadei managed to pass Canepa mid-way round the final lap and clinch the final position on the box, while De Angelis demoted the LCR man a further place on the run to the line.
Lucas Tulovic was sixth after running wide early on, just ahead of Mike Di Meglio’s Marc VDS machine.
Josh Hook managed eighth ahead of Xavier Simeon, while Xavier Cardelus completed the top ten on the second of the Avintia bikes.
Aegerter’s win means he now moves into the championship lead by 11 over Torres, while Granado’s issues means he slips to third-13 points from the lead of the series-and just a point clear of Casadei.
