Last weekend, the Team Icon Brammo and Team Parker Brammo squads competed against their gas-powered counterparts, which you can read about here. Now, let’s take a closer look at just how far e-bike technology has progressed since Brammo — and Lightning — last raced at Sonoma Raceway, exactly one year ago.
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 »
Kyle Wyman, number 33, took the win by a slim margin in the season-opening round of the 2012 AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 series in Daytona. Wyman also won the 2011 opening round of the series held at Daytona.
Kyle Wyman, 22, of Macedon, N.Y., took the win in the March 16 opening round of the 2012 AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 race series held at Daytona, effectively repeating his victory in 2011 during the inaugural round of the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 series also held at Daytona.
Riding his XR1200 (#33) for Kyle Wyman Racing/Vesrah Harley-Davidson, Wyman, who started from pole position, held off Michael Barnes (Bartels’ Harley-Davidson), David Estok (Trev Deeley Motorcycles) and Bartels’ H-D’s Tyler O’Hara in a tight four-way battle for the series-opening victory. Wyman’s winning margin over O’Hara was 0.117 seconds, with Barnes 0.413 seconds back for third place. Estok finished fourth, 0.785 seconds behind Wyman. The next closest racer, Darren James (Ruthless Racing/Deeley) finishing fifth, was more than nine seconds behind Wyman.
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.
