Valencia played host to the final races of a truncated MotoE World Cup this month, with two battles worthy of the drama that has characterized the series' debut season both on and off the track.
MotoE's literal rise from the ashes was the talk of motor racing in July, when riders finally assembled on the grid at Germany's Sachsenring for the debut race.
After a fire had ripped through the paddock, destroying the entire fleet of bikes, the fact that they were racing at all was worthy of note.
It was perhaps fitting that the season should end in a city famed for its pyrotechnics. The Cup was shortened to six races at four venues, and the final double header in Valencia was a good measure of the progress MotoE has made in its short life on track.
The city's spectator-friendly Ricardo Tormo circuit offers panoramic views and over two seven lap races around its compact curves the electric bikes delivered a pair of breathless spectacles, both coming down to the final corners of their respective final lap.
"We have achieved our main goal," Nicolas Goubert, MotoE Executive Director told CNN. "Which was to show that it was as entertaining to watch an electric bike race as to watch a petrol engine bike one. We had races with a lot of overtaking, uncertainty, up to the last lap.
"The first positive sign came from the MotoGP riders, right after the first race," Goubert continued. "Before going to the podium both Marc Marquez and Maverick Viñales stopped to congratulate [Dorna CEO] Carmelo Ezpeleta on the MotoE race.
"We had a lot of positive comments from the paddock guys as well -- and these guys know what they are talking about."
Maria Herrera, a veteran of the petrol Moto3 class as well as the only female rider on the MotoE grid, was surprised by the speed of the bikes.
