Mattia Casadei has been crowned the inaugural 2023 MotoE World Champion with a race to spare after taking victory in Misano.

The Italian sprinted to the finish line just +0.021s in front of Hector Garzo to secure victory and with it the points he needs to stay clear of erstwhile rivals Jordi Torres and Matteo Ferrari in the season finale later today.

Torres had led from the start but only after getting a too good a start from the second row, the jump at the lights leading to a long lap penalty that placed him down in tenth, making Casadei’s title win elementary.

It marks the conclusion of a superb fight back from the Pons Racing rider, who looked out of contention in the first half of the short eight round season before five wins from six races did their bit in transforming his campaign.

Garzo’s second place finish earned him his fifth podium of the year, while Nichols Spinelli made it two Pons bikes on the podium in third place.

The Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse team celebrated a strong 4-5 finish on home soil in the order of Kevin Manfredi and Kevin Zannoni, while Matteo Ferrari leafrogged Torres in what is now a battle for the runners-up spot overall with sixth.

After four years designated as a World Cup, Casadei thus becomes the first World Champion of MotoE using the Ducati V21L prototype