Gravity takes the double in the final round of the 2023 FIM E-Xplorer World Cup in Sardinia.
It was a day of celebration at the final round of the brand new FIM E-Xplorer World Cup in Sardinia last Sunday (16th July). A fantastic weekend (and season) of all-electric motorcycle racing concluded with some exciting action in the sand dunes of the Italian Army Training Camp in Capo Teulada. The conclusion of this World Cup saw the winning team – the Japanese owned MIE duo of Sandra Gomez and Jorge Zaragoza – crowned as FIM E-Xplorer Champions in considerable style.
Words & Images: FIM E-Xplorer World Cup
The two days of racing created some thrilling action concluding in a ‘Small Final’ yesterday between team MaddWill and the Backyard Racing Lizcat Factory Team. MaddWill, which is owned and managed by the legendary freestyle rider Robbie Maddison, came out on top to take third place in the final race of the series as well as third in the championship standings.
Meanwhile, victory in the final race went to the Gravity pairing of Camille Chapelière and 6-time WMX World Champ Kiara Fontanesi, securing second place in the overall championship.
Second place honours in Round Five went to the MIE duo of Jorge Zaragoza and Sandra Gomez which ensured the overall World Cup victory for the Spanish duo after all five rounds of this brand new FIM series.
“It is fantastic to win this new world cup,” said Jorge Zaragoza. “We have been competitive from the outset and we are really thrilled to be taking the top step in this series. It is a great new championship and it’s fantastic to be involved from the beginning and to take the series title.”
“Jorge and I have been a good team,” continued Sandra Gomez. “We have very different skills and have helped each other throughout this series with all the different terrains and courses. He has taught me how to manage the jumps and I have helped him with the trees. It is fantastic to win this for Midori (Morawaki – Team Principle of MIE).”
The series started in Catalunya back in May and moved from there to the Swiss alps of Crans Montana and then to the wooded Auvergne region of central France before finishing with a double header event in the sand dunes of Sardinia where, for the first time, it ran alongside the electric motorsport series, Extreme E. The two championships have several things in common; notably, they are both fully electric and committed to promoting the sustainability messages and the dangers of global warming; they also promote equality, each fielding teams comprising one male and one female driver or rider.
“It was great to work with Extreme E this weekend,” said Valentin Guyonnet, Co-Founder of E-Xplorer. “It makes perfect sense for these two championships to complement each other and this weekend has really proved this. I hope this is the start of a number of such collaborations.”
This was endorsed by Alejandro Agag, Chairman of Extreme E and Founder & Chairman of Formula E, who has been supportive of E-Xplorer from the start and supports the idea of working together in the coming seasons.
“I completely agree with Valentin and I think for Extreme E this is a great complimentary series,” enthused Agag. “We have some ‘down time’ in the middle of the day during our events and the whole of E-Xplorer – the races, the format, the messaging behind the sport – is very similar to the ethos behind Extreme E and I welcome the chance to work closely with this series again. I am a huge supporter.”
This is clearly a new dawn for motorcycle racing, embracing the electric era and delivering exciting racing on a worldwide stage, promoting equality and sustainability. The plans for 2024 will be announced in the coming weeks.
Championship Standings
1. MIE: 106 points
2. Gravity: 96 points
3. MaddWill by IXS: 78 points
4. EM Factory Team: 62 points
5. SEVEN-EM Stewart Racing: 61 points
6. PCR-e Performance Factory: 52 points
7. Backyard Racing Lizcat: 44 points
8. FLAIR Riders EMX: 42 points
9. Fanatics: 40 points
