Cycle News Staff | February 21, 2024
The HRC Honda CR Electric Proto motocrosser ridden by Italy’s Francesca Nocera and Spain’s Tosha Schareina topped seven other female/male teams to win the opening round of the 2024 FIM E-Xplorer World Cup in Osaka, Japan, February 17-18.
The Honda HRC team of Francesca Nocera (pictured) and Tosha Schareina won round one of the 2024 FIM E-Xplorer Championship in Osaka, Japan.
The all-electric FIM E-Xplorer race format changed from last year and now utilizes three motos for the women riders and three for the men. The HRC team edged out the Robbie Maddison Racing team of Switzerland’s Virginie Gemond and Spain’s Jorge Zaragoza, who were riding Stark Vargs.
The INDE Racing team of Spain’s Sandra Gomez and Canada’s Spenser Wilton rounded out the podium, also on Stark electric bikes.
Despite Osaka’s narrow track, the male riders managed a clean and tidy start, with all riders making it onto the main track without incident. With a near-perfect start, RMR’s Zaragoza got to the front and stayed there for a clear win.
Congestion at the start of the Women’s first of three races caused an altercation between AUS-E rider Jess Gardiner and Team HRC’s Nocera, pushing both riders to the back of the pack. That left Gravity’s Tanya Schlosser and team INDE’s Gomez to fight it out for first, with Gomez crossing the line leading the way.
Sandra Gomez (1) won the Women’s competition with three consistent motos, including a moto win. The INDE Racing team rider joined her teammate, Spencer Wilton, on the overall podium in third place.
With another clean start, HRC’s Schareina led at the start of the Men’s second race but had the lead snatched from him at turn two as a dominant Zaragoza capitalized on small errors to take the lead and second-race win.
German rider Schlosser’s consistently fast and flawless starts shot the Gravity rider into the lead during the second of the Women’s heats, but Nocera’s aggression and experience soon closed the gap and the Italian rider passed to take the lead, while Gomez also managed to push past into second.
An unstoppable Zaragoza quickly established the lead in the third and final Men’s race, finding his way to the front and staying there. Despite a good ride from Schareina and Bonnel Racing’s Dylan Woodcock, the Spanish RMR rider pulled out an impressive 20-second lead over the eight-minute race.
The Women’s final race for the day appeared to be a carbon copy of the second, with Schlosser blasting into the lead at the start before being hunted down and passed by Nocera on her HRC CRF-E. Simultaneously, a fired-up Gomez overtook Bonnell rider Kristie McKinnon to secure third in the final moto.
Jorge Zaragoza dominated the Men’s competition, riding his Robbie Madison Racing Stark. The Spaniard won all three motos.
In the rider standings, INDE Racing’s Gomez took the honors as the weekend’s fastest female rider ahead of HRC’s Nocera and Gravity Racing’s Schlosser. On the men’s side, Robbie Madison Racing’s Zaragoza stood on the top spot with three moto wins ahead of HRC’s Schareina and Woodcock.
The second round of the FIM E-Xplorer Championship will take place in Norway on May 3-4. CN
OVERALL
- HRC: Francesca Nocera, Tosha Schareina (Hon)
- Robbie Maddison Racing: Virginie Gemond, Jorge Zargoza (Stark)
- INDE Racing: Sandra Gomez, Spenser Wilton (Stark)
