TTXGP Announces July Race at Portland Int'l Raceway

Pete Brissette
by Pete Brissette

Portland event adds third race to 2011 TTXGP U.S. Championship

The all-electric motorcycle grand prix race series, TTXGP, announced Mar. 29 it added Portland International Raceway to the TTXGP North America Championship 2011.

Set for July 16-17, the Portland stop follows the first round of the U.S. TTXGP championship set for May 14-15 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The only other round currently scheduled is set for Virginia International Raceway during the weekend of August 12-14. There’s a place holder for a fourth stop in the series’ 2011 schedule, but as of this writing a date or location isn’t listed on the TTXGP website.

Michael Czysz, founder of MotoCzysz, sits aboard his electric motorcycle race-winning E1pc. With MotoCzysz’s corporate headquarters located in Portland, it’s a safe bet Czysz will compete in the recently announced Portland round of the TTXGP.

Azhar Hussain, CEO and founder of the TTXGP eGrandPrix, says that, “The next generation of motorsport has started and we are very proud to be hosting a race at Portland International Raceway this summer. With such an engaged administration, industry and community, Portland is a fantastic addition to the line-up and we are looking forward to bringing TTXGP there.”

The TTXGP Portland race will run alongside an OMRRA (Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association) event during the same weekend. “Hosting an international championship race, especially one focused so firmly on the future, is very exciting to OMRRA. It aligns with our club goal of expanding the appeal of two-wheeled competition. And it seems a special fit with the state of Oregon, where a progressive approach to the environment and transportation is deeply engrained,” says Chris Page, Board member of OMRRA.

Brammo, maker of the consumer-available Enertia electric motorcycle, is also located in Oregon and competes in ebike races, so another safe guess says Brammo will attend the Portland event. Seen here is Brammo’s electric racer, the Empulse RR.

This latest venue for the eGrand Prix is apropos, as MotoCzysz, winner of the 2010 Isle of Man TT Zero and the first FIM e-Power race held in the U.S. during the 2010 Red Bull USGP Laguna Seca, has its corporate offices in Portland. And large scale (relative to the size of the ebike industry) maker of electric motorcycles, Brammo, is located in Ashland, Ore., approximately 285 miles south of Portland. Brammo is also active in electric motorcycle racing, with its Enertia TTR as the first finishing production motorcycle – and third overall – in the 2009 TT Xtreme Grand Prix (TTXGP) held during the Isle of Man TT.

TTXGP, FIM together again?

2010 FIM e-Power race at Red Bull USGP Laguna Seca

Pete Brissette
Pete Brissette

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