Brammo Earns Seventh Place Against Gas Bikes
This past weekend, Brammo arrived to Sonoma Raceway in Central California ready to do battle. Only this time the electric sportbike manufacturer would be trading blows not with other electric bikes, but with their ICE counterparts at the second round of the American Federation of Motorcyclists series — one of the oldest club racing organizations in the country. We recently mentioned Brammo’s eligibility with AFM, and this weekend was the first outing.
Team Icon Brammo and its two riders Eric Bostrom and Steve Atlas competed on the Empulse RR machines while third rider, Shelina Moreda, rode the Team Parker Brammo Empulse TTX — a modified version of the road-legal Empulse. Moreda was entered in the 250 Superbike category, where she competed against modified Kawasaki Ninja 250s and even 450cc singles. She started 14th on the grid but fought her way up to 7th after eight laps of racing, posting a best time of 1:59.401. For comparison, Eric Thompson won the race by over ten seconds aboard his 450 supersingle, posting his best lap of 1:53.896 en route to victory.
Thompson’s time aside, Moreda’s pace was well and truly competitive with the other 250s in the class. Meanwhile, Atlas and Bostrom were entered in a number of races, but were credited with finishing only one: 750 Superbike, where E-Boz finished 14th and Atlas 21st, one lap down. Atlas set his best time of the weekend, a 1:50.153, during this race, Bostrom a 1:49.252. Andy DiBrinno won the race on his Yamaha YZF-R6, posting a best lap of 1:41.132. Interestingly, Bostrom’s quickest lap of the weekend came during practice, where he stopped the clocks at 1:48.993.
Brammo’s performance this weekend may not have blown the racing world by storm, but it was no doubt impressive. All three riders and all three bikes proved they have what it takes to be competitive against their gas-powered rivals. There’s definitely room to improve, however, so we’re looking forward to seeing what the team have in store for their next race, June 1-2 at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California, for the third round of AFM.
Check Team Icon Brammo’s website, Facebook and Twitter pages to keep up to date on everything Brammo.
Troy's been riding motorcycles and writing about them since 2006, getting his start at Rider Magazine. From there, he moved to Sport Rider Magazine before finally landing at Motorcycle.com in 2011. A lifelong gearhead who didn't fully immerse himself in motorcycles until his teenage years, Troy's interests have always been in technology, performance, and going fast. Naturally, racing was the perfect avenue to combine all three. Troy has been racing nearly as long as he's been riding and has competed at the AMA national level. He's also won multiple club races throughout the country, culminating in a Utah Sport Bike Association championship in 2011. He has been invited as a guest instructor for the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and when he's not out riding, he's either wrenching on bikes or watching MotoGP.
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