TTXGP

Resurrecting the name of Belgium's first home-grown motorcycle company, Saroléa racing is gearing up for this year's TT Zero electric motorcycle race at the Isle of Man. And the bike is an absolute beauty.

In a rerun of David versus Goliath, the small highly-innovative Team MotoCzysz has once more triumphed over the Honda-Mugen effort, demonstrating 40 years of lap speed improvements in exactly 48 months.

Italian electric race-bike outfit CRP Racing has announced its first road-going superbike, the Energica.

TTXGP Founder and CEO, Azhar Hussain, has been honored in the Queen's Birthday 2011 Honours List with an MBE for his services to motorsport.

With electric bikes only just beginning to race against each other, American Chip Yates has upped the ante by announcing he's running a 196-horsepower beast against petrol superbikes starting in January.

Brammo has come out swinging with the Empulse 10.0 - a streetfighter-style electric with a 100-mile range and a 100mph top speed. It will absolutely nail commuter duties, and offer a heck of a lot of fun - and the price is a pleasant surprise.

American team MotoCzysz demonstrated the massive performance leap electric motorcycles have taken over the last 12 months at the second IOM electric race, pushing the average winning speed from 87.434 mph to 96.820 mph.

Roehr Motorcycles is to introduce two electric motorcycles before mid-year, topped by a 96 bhp motorcycle with race level performance, 210 lb/ft of torque, and premium suspension and brake components which it has dubbed the eSuperbike.

The success of the TTXGP for electric motorcycles on the Isle of Man in June has spawned a world championship series for 2010 and the likely commercial availability of an electric racing bike early in the year.

Just as Gottleib Daimler, Karl Benz, Henry Ford et al made their name at the dawn of motorsport, we suspect we’ve seen some significant global brands for the first time this week with the running of the TTXGP.

In an exclusive audio interview, we speak to Jeremy Cleland, in charge of the Mission One team at the world's first electric motorcycle roadrace, the Isle of Man TTXGP.

The TTX01 is the electric superbike built to promote the first clean emissions race, the TTX GP to be held on June 12. Stuart Barker rode the bike on the Isle of Man circuit and his impressions are our first glimpse into the future of motorcycling.