Eric Bostrom took the victory in a crash-filled race at Laguna Seca to open the U.S. leg of the 2013 FIM eRoadRacing World Cup.

Three out of eight racers crashed out on the first of nine laps while pole qualifier Shane Turpin retired with a mechanical breakdown on the penultimate lap. For most of the race, Turpin was engaged in a battle with his Team Icon Brammo teammate Bostrom for the lead.

Turpin looked to have the advantage, establishing a new Laguna Seca record lap for electric bikes at 1:32.581, beating the previous record of 1:33.194 set by Mission MotorsSteve Rapp. Turpin’s retirement gave Bostrom an easy win, as the two Brammo racers had lapped the rest of their competition.

“My heart sank when I saw Shane had a problem,” says Bostrom. “It’s a strange feeling because you obviously want the team to do well but you still want to win too. It is a real shame to win that way but I am still happy to have won.”

Second place went to Zero S rider Kenyon Kluge followed by Jeremiah Johnston on another Zero S.

“You can see from the lap times that we are going in the right direction and the technology around these bikes is continuing to develop. We were producing speeds of over 140mph on the track, which is just fantastic.”

The U.S. portion of the 2013 FIM eRoadRacing World Cup continues Aug. 18 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before concluding Aug. 31-Sept. 1 at Miller Motorsports Park.

FIM eRoadRacing World Cup – Laguna Seca Results

Pos. Rider Motorcycle Time
1 Eric Bostrom Brammo Empulse RR 14:13.799
2 Kenyon Kluge Zero S -1 lap
3 Jeremiah Johnson Zero S -1 lap
4 Arthur Kowitz Brammo Empulse TTX -1 lap
DNF Shane Turpin Brammo Empulse RR -1 lap
DNF Brandon Miller Zero S -9 laps
DNF Ted Rich Zero S -9 laps
DNF Sheina Moreda Brammo Empulse TTX -9 laps

[Source: FIM, Brammo (Facebook)]