Lightning Motorcycles has signed two-time Isle of Man TT race winner Cameron Donald to race in the 2013 TT Zero and the FIM’s e-Power championship.

The Australian native, who won races in both the Superbike and Superstock classes at the 2008 Isle of Man TT, will ride the latest version of Lightning’s electric motorcycle, a bike our own Troy Siahaan calls the fastest motorcycle he’s ever ridden.

Donald becomes the latest established road racer to sign up to race electric motorcycles. Last September, Miguel Duhamel rode the Lightning to victory at the Le Mans stop of the e-Power series. Earlier in 2012, overall Isle of Man TT lap record holder John McGuinness rode the Mugen Shinden in the TT Zero, and on this side of the Atlantic, Eric Bostrom rode for Brammo in the TTXGP’s North American Championship. 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 »

Germany’s Matthias Himmelmann dominated the FIM e-Power & TTXGP combined event held Sept. 23 at the Le Mans circuit, in opening of the renowned FIM 24 Hours Endurance race.

Not to discount Himmelmann’s win, but the most remarkable thing about the race is how much faster the electric-powered motorcycles lapped the Bugatti circuit this year. Himmelmann completed his fastest lap in 1’54.584 and set a time of 1’52.939 as pole position. In 2010, the fastest lap around the circuit was completed in 2’19 – an incredible 26-second improvement!

After eight laps of racing, Himmelmann’s Münch TTE bike crossed the finish line more than 34 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.

“This was a start to finish with a victory for the team,” says Himmelmann. “I gave it all my power as well as the power of the bike to push for the win and the result for the whole team is excellent. This is a real team effort; the win belongs to all of us. We have worked really hard to further develop this new bike after a disappointing result at Laguna Seca.” Continue Reading »