Former MotoGP Racer Alex Crivillé Opens Up on MotoE’s Energica Ego Corsa
In 1999, Alex Crivillé became the first Spaniard to win the 500cc World Championship but was unfortunately forced to retire in 2002 due to health problems.
Now, fast forward to 2018 and the man finally got to ride again, and in front of a grand prix crowd, no less.
This time, he was aboard the Energica Ego Corsa, the machine that will be used for the MotoE Championship set to debut in 2019. In front of the passionate MotoGP crowd on Sunday, Alex Crivillé rode the motorbike around the 4.6km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to much support from fans, who reportedly welcomed the two-time world champion and local hero with open arms.
(All images taken from Motorcycle .com)
Speaking to the press, Crivillé said: “I’m happy with this experience aboard the Energica Ego Corsa at Montmelo.”
“The riding is smooth and the feeling very good, and the feedback with the throttle connection is great. This is still an in-development prototype and I’m sure the bike will be very competitive soon. The bike feels light while changing direction, it’s easy to ride and has good mid-corner grip. I’m sure we will see some close racing next year!”
According to the press release, the Catalunya Grand Prix also hosted an additional series of tests for the 2019 MotoE prototype - two of the bikes were taken for a spin at the track, ridden by Energica’s test rider Alessandro Brannetti and Loris Capirossi.
“We have done a couple of sessions between Thursday and Friday and it was interesting to cross-check the feedback from both Alessandro and Loris,” Energica CTO, Giampiero Testoni, said.
Testoni elaborated: “We got some very useful data, which will be extremely important for the continuation of the development. The new fairing gave us very interesting results so we look forward to trying it again soon. Overall, we are happy with how things are proceeding at the moment.”