The Openbank Aspar Team rider will start tomorrow's races from third position. María Herrera continues improving her adaptation to the new Ducati and will start seventeenth

The French Grand Prix has given the green light to the new era of MotoE as a world championship. After the pre-season tests and the official presentation, the riders of the electric category have put on their overalls for the first practice and qualifying sessions of the 2023 season. The effect of the new Ducati has been reflected in the first day of action in France. Matteo Ferrari has set the new track record after being the fastest in practice and has taken the first pole position of the championship after a very close qualifying session. The Italian has set a time of 1:40.971, three seconds faster than Mattia Casadei's pole time in 2022. The front row of the grid is completed by Héctor Garzo and Jordi Torres, who have finished just twenty-two and twenty-five thousandths of a second off Ferrari's time.

Double category champion Jordi Torres has started the new season proving that he is one of the candidates to follow in the fight for the title. The Openbank Aspar Team rider has ended up twenty-five thousandths of a second off the first pole position of the championship and will start tomorrow's race from third. The Catalan rider has remained in the top 3 in all the sessions of the day and has gained direct access to Q2. In qualifying, the rain has slightly changed the track conditions, but that has not prevented Torres from improving his morning lap time and securing the first row of the grid for tomorrow's races. His Openbank Aspar Team teammate María Herrera has started her fifth season in the electric category with the aim of continuing her adaptation to the new Ducati. The Spanish, who has improved her morning time in Q1 by six tenths of a second, will start the French Grand Prix from seventeenth position. Herrera has been feeling more comfortable as the laps have gone by and will try to close the first Grand Prix with good feelings.

3rd Jordi Torres 1:40.996 (+0.025): “The first day has been very positive. We have been in the leading positions in all the practice sessions and we have understood better how the bike works. In the first three runs we have tried two different configurations to find the limits of the bike. The qualifying has been complicated by the rain, although the track has stayed quite dry. We have got third position on the grid and we will see what happens in the races.”

17th María Herrera 1:43.070: “In the first practice I was not feeling comfortable. In the second we have improved the bike, we have made a big step forward and we have been close to the fastest riders. In the qualifying, we have made some improvements to the bike and to my riding. It's a new bike that's difficult to understand, but little by little we're getting there.”