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Motorcycles

Electric power proves its worth in first TTXGP practice session

By Mike Hanlon
June 09, 2009
Electric power proves its worth in first TTXGP practice session
The teams line up for a group photograph just prior to the first practice session
The teams line up for a group photograph just prior to the first practice session
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The teams line up for a group photograph just prior to the first practice session
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The teams line up for a group photograph just prior to the first practice session
The teams line up for a group photograph just prior to the first practice session
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The teams line up for a group photograph just prior to the first practice session
The Agni Motors machine appears very likely to make history based on the first practice session, lapping five minutes faster than any other contender
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The Agni Motors machine appears very likely to make history based on the first practice session, lapping five minutes faster than any other contender
The much fancied Mission Motors team suffered problems in the first session and was fourth fastest.
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The much fancied Mission Motors team suffered problems in the first session and was fourth fastest.
Electric Motorsports' machine was third fastest in the Open Class
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Electric Motorsports' machine was third fastest in the Open Class
George Spence on the Kingston University machine
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George Spence on the Kingston University machine
The Kingston University entry ridden by George Spence
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The Kingston University entry ridden by George Spence
Mission Motors rider Tom Montano on the grid wearing an Alpinestars race suit, and the sophisticated Alpinestars Advanced Safety Technology (AST) rider-mounted telemetry system.
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Mission Motors rider Tom Montano on the grid wearing an Alpinestars race suit, and the sophisticated Alpinestars Advanced Safety Technology (AST) rider-mounted telemetry system.
Montano's AST rider-mounted telemetry system is linked to unobtrusive sensors within the arms, legs and torso of the suit, which record data via an arsenal of sensitive tools that include a suite of tri axis acceleration sensors, a central logging unit similar to those used on F1 cars, 2 military specification GPS units and an Inertial Motion Unit
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Montano's AST rider-mounted telemetry system is linked to unobtrusive sensors within the arms, legs and torso of the suit, which record data via an arsenal of sensitive tools that include a suite of tri axis acceleration sensors, a central logging unit similar to those used on F1 cars, 2 military specification GPS units and an Inertial Motion Unit
View gallery - 9 images

June 10, 2009 The era of electric motorcycling began today when entrants in the first clean emissions Grand Prix proved their viability by lapping the famous IOM TT circuit in excess of 80 mph during the first practice session for Friday's race.

The honours in the first ever session went to the Indian Agni Motors entry based around a 2007 model Suzuki GSX-R600 road bike frame and fitted with two Agni 95 motors and 63 70AH Kokam lithium-polymer batteries. Rated by the team at around 40-50 bhp, the bike was the first electric motorcycle to complete a lap of the 37 mile course, with Team Agni rider Rob Barber averaging 84.81 mph to the time sheets.

In the Open class, for machines built within a UKP 30,000 budget, Team ManTTx rider Dan Kneen lapped at an average speed of 70.677mph on his 748R Ducati-based machine.

PRO Class times

  • Team Agni (Rob Barber): 26:41
  • Mission Motors (Thomas Montano): 33:45
  • XXL (Thomas Schoenfelder): 34.07
  • Brammo/Bike (Roy Richardson): 35:47
  • Brammo/Bike (Mark Buckley): 35:52
  • HTBLAUVA – TGM (Paul Dobbs): 41:53

Open Class times

  • ManTTx Racing (Dan Kneen): 32:01
  • Barefoot Motors Racing (Chris Petty): 33:35
  • Electric Motorsport (Chris Heath): 36:26
  • NSR - Kingston University (George Spence): 40:44

Full report shortly.

View gallery - 9 images

Tags

MotorcyclesElectric MotorcyclesTTXGPGrand PrixAgni Motors
2 comments
Mike Hanlon
Mike Hanlon
As a photojournalist, Mike’s work has been published in a dozen languages across 20+ countries. He has edited or managed over 75 different print publications, each with a different target audience: sports, automotive, advertising, marketing, design, ad infinitum. Mike has been working in the internet for more than 25 years and was the veteran of five internet start-ups before founding New Atlas in 2002.

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2 comments
David Woodward
I am very curious what happened to the Mission Motors team and why the MotoCzysz E1pc didnt run, as far as i can tell from the pics.
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I think MotoCzysz did run but pulled out. Here is a radio report:-
http://www.egrandprix.com/media/manx_radio_tt_jun_2009.mp3