The great schism in electric motorcycle has been mended with the TTXGP‘s eGrandPrix and the International Motorcycling Federation‘s e-Power series unifying to form a new world championship. We caught wind of a potential merger last June and it finally looks like electric motorcycle racing is ready to put on a united front.

After running opposite each other for three years, the two formerly rival series are uniting to form a new championship. Specifics still need to be worked out but the 2013 championship will follow the TTXGP’s usual format, featuring four events in both Europe and the U.S. (the TTXGP’s Australian series has been dropped) with a final best-against-best world championship final in Asia.

From 2014 onward, the championship will revert to a regular world championship format featuring six events supporting other FIM World championships with no final. Instead, the winner will be decided in the conventional manner, through points accumulated through the season. Continue Reading »

Daytona International Speedway played host to the TTXGP World Final, where TTXGP competitors from its three regions — Australia, Europe and North America — would battle it out for top honors. This marked the first time in the famed speedway’s history it has ever hosted an electric motorcycle race of any kind, making the event a truly historic moment. The grandeur of the event wasn’t lost on 2010/2011 TTXGP World Final Champion Matthias Himmelman and Australian champion Jason Morris, as they dug deep to raise the funds necessary to make the trip to Daytona to race against two-time, and defending North American champ, Steve Atlas aboard the Team Icon Brammo Empulse entry. Continue Reading »

Miguel Duhamel can put another victory on his already-impressive resume after winning his first ever electric motorcycle race, taking the checkered flag in the FIM e-Power/TTXGP race at France’s Le Mans circuit.

Riding for Lightning-Barracuda, Duhamel took the checkered flag by edging Muench Racing’s Mattias Himmelmann in the eight-lap race by 1.929 seconds.

Duhamel started on the pole but it was Himmelmann who took the early lead. Duhamel was second followed by Zongshen Racing‘s Tang Yu. Himmelmann led the first two laps but Duhamel was not far behind, trailing by just 0.180 seconds on Lap One and 0.212 seconds on Lap Two. Continue Reading »

Miguel Duhamel is returning to action to race in the FIM e-Power International Championship for Lightning Motorcycles. The five-time Daytona 200 winner will ride the Lightning Barracuda electric motorcycle for the joint FIM and TTXGP race at Le Mans , and Motorcycle.com had a role in setting up the connection.

The topic of a rider for Le Mans came up during the preparations for Associate Editor Troy Siahaan‘s exclusive test of the Lightning race bike last month. Lightning normally competes in the TTXGP’s North American series but decided to enter the Sept. 7-8 round in France to take advantage of the high profile of sharing the stage with the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The problem was Lightning needed a rider and most North American riders, including Lightning regular Michael Barnes, were occupied with the AMA Pro Racing round at New Jersey Motorsports Park taking place the same weekend. Continue Reading »

Team Zongshen rider Yu Tang came through in a surprise win in Sunday’s FIM e-Power International Championship event at Oschersleben. After teammate Ho Chi Fung’s respectable third place in Saturday’s three-lap sprint, Tang found himself on the highest step of the podium after favorites, and Munch Racing teammates, Matthias Himmelmann and Katja Poensgen experienced mechanical trouble. The Zongshen rider took the chequered flag at the end of the ten-lap race ahead of Udo Reichmann (Reichmann Racing-Mavizen) and Christian Amendt (epo-Bike).  Continue Reading »

Usually new technology seen in racing eventually trickles down to consumer vehicles after a few years of development and testing. What happens then when an entire motorcycle makes the transition from race bike to street bike? The answer is the $20,400 Energica, an all-electric sportbike from Italian manufacturer CRP Racing.

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Mission Motors rider Steve Rapp led from start to finish to win the Laguna Seca round of the TTXGP and FIM e-Power championships. The race was significant both because it demonstrated the improvements made in electric motorcycle racing over the last year, but also because it was the first joint event held by the two rival electric racing series.

A veteran AMA racer, Rapp took the holeshot and held off 2010 Laguna Seca e-Power winner Michael Czysz and 2010 runner-up Michael Barnes for the win, completing the 8-lap race in 12:40.597, translating to lap times of about 1:35.1.

Rapp’s result showed the advances made in electric motorcycle racing over the last year. Czysz won last year’s 9-lap race in 16:02.596, which translates to an average lap time of about 1:47.0. Rapp’s fastest lap time in this year’s race was 1:33.194, obliterating Czysz record of 1:44.496 set last year.

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