Mattia Casadei is now just four points shy of Jordi Torres in the MotoE World Championship standings with three races remaining after surviving a brush with his title rival on the final lap to finish second at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

A clash that could prove pivotal in the fight for this year’s title, the touch led to differing fortunes for the two contenders with Casadei surviving to finish second behind winner Andrea Mantovani, while Torres could only manage seventh.

Torres had arrived for his home round commanding a 15 point lead over Casadei, though it was the latter Pons Racing rider who arrived as the man in-form after three wins on the trot.

In a hard-fought race, the pair would swap the lead on multiple occasions as the race reached its latter stages, culminating in contact as they entered the final lap, with Torres coming off worse and slipping down the order.

Indeed, Torres had looked like the rider to beat after securing pole position on the Aspar bike, the double MotoE World Cup title-winner going on to lead initially from the start.

However, it was an advantage he wouldn’t sustain for long, Casadei reeling Torres in and putting him under pressure into the final revolutions. After Casadei squeezed through at Turn 10 on lap five of seven, Torres responded into the first corner on the penultimate lap.

It was a set-piece they’d repeat on the penultimate lap with Casadei slithering through into the lead, before Torres sized him up for a pass into Turn 1 at the final time of asking.

However, on this occasion Torres would get loose under braking and was left with nowhere to go but to slight the rear wheel of Casadei’s bike. While Casadei was unruffled, Torres was forced to sit up and run on at Turn 1, dropping him down to seventh.

While the impact didn’t hamper Casadei to the same extent, it did allow the close-following Mantovani onto his tail, the Italian getting a good run into Turn 10 to move through into a lead he’d hold through the remaining four turns and onto the flag.

A second win for both himself and the RNF Racing team this year, it comes after taking a win at Mugello.

Casadei followed in second place, a potentially crucial result for the Italian as he reduces the margin ahead to just five points. 

Casadei and Torres aren’t the only riders still in contention though with a fortuitous Matteo Ferrari getting the better of the latter too en route to fourth. The Gresini rider sits just 12 points adrift of Torres overall.

Hector Garzo took the final step on the podium in third place, ahead of Ferrari, while Nicholas Spinelli and Randy Krummenacher were also through on Torres for fifth and sixth.