EMotoRacing Race Report From New Jersey Motorsports Park

Troy Siahaan
by Troy Siahaan

The newly-developed eMotoRacing electric motorcycle racing series made its way to New Jersey Motorsports Park last weekend, where the field of Brammos were joined by the student-led team from Virginia Tech, running their e-bike, dubbed the Bolt.

A total of six contestants were entered, though former Daytona 200 winner, David Sadowski failed to start the race. The e-bikes were the second wave of a two-wave start, with 750cc ICE bikes starting first. At the start, Daniel Grabowski, riding the Virginia Tech machine rocketed to an easy holeshot, which he kept for the first four of the eight total laps.

It didn’t take long for the backmarkers in the first wave to interrupt the flow of the e-machines, and Arthur Kowitz, riding a Brammo TTX suffered immensely, getting passed by three riders as he was too passive in getting through. Once past the gassers, he set his sights on the bikes ahead, making sure to keep Grabowski in his sights.

“I could see the Bolt was having trouble managing the tight esses and switchbacks that comprise much of the course,” Kowitz said. “[William Himmelsbach] stalked him and passed for the lead, I followed around the Bolt as well.”

Kowitz then caught Himmelsbach and waited for his opportunity to pass. Tucked behind him on the front straight, Kowitz pulls out of the draft and darts for the inside line into Turn 1, taking a gamble that he could out-brake Himmelsbach. The gamble paid off and he held off all challengers to take the win.

Himmelsbach crossed the line in second place, followed by Pete Nicolosi on a Brammo Empulse R. Grabowski came fourth on the Bolt, much to the delight of the student team. Andrew Cowell came fifth aboard his Brammo Empulse R, rounding out the field.

For more information on the series, visit www.emotoracing.com.

Troy Siahaan
Troy Siahaan

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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