The organisers of the MotoE Championship believe that the huge fire at Jerez that destroyed the entire 2019 grid on Wednesday may have been caused by a short circuit.
The fire broke out at the newly-built paddock space used by all of the teams at 00:15 on Wednesday, spreading quickly and burning down the entire structure. The fire caused major damage, including all 18 bikes, team laptops, tools and parts. Fortunately, nobody was injured in the fire.
In a statement released tonight, MotoE bosses said:
“Although we are awaiting the official conclusion of the investigation by local police, initial evidence regarding the cause of the fire at the E-paddock of the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto on March 14th seems to point to a short circuit as the main cause of the incident.
“The source of the short circuit has yet to be identified but, once the fire broke out, it ignited the high-density battery which is part of the high-performance charger used at MotoE™ events. The motorbikes were not connected to the charging infrastructure at the time the fire began. ”
The Spanish circuit was set to host the first-ever MotoE race alongside the MotoGP event in May, however officials have now confirmed that the race has been cancelled.
A revised race calendar will be released in due course. The original calendar included races at Le Mans, Sachsenring, Red Bull Ring and Misano.
MotoE officials are now working hard to rebuild and replace the materials and motorcycles lost in the fire.
