A 1st Look At The FIM E-Power Race, And Probably Last |
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File under Electrical Racing
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Magny-Cours, France
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As you may gather form the title, I am not amused. I planned to spend the weekend covering the 1st leg of the FIM  e-Power race, electric race motorcycle, in the world championship.
To my surprise, and dismay, there are only three teams present at Magny-Cours. I heard from the stewards that it's an improvement, since last year there were only 2 electric motorcycles. All three racers are German, so it's not even an international race.
It's a pity that FIM is not throwing in a lot of their weight to promote the category. Paying for teams to attend (like the USA ones), would make the event much more interesting. I for one, am not planning to get up early in the morning to see the qualifiers or even the race, since it's not a real race if there are only 3 bikes. It's more a comical farce.
Walking through the paddocks, I eventually stumbled upon one of the 3 teams, however, this team has 2 bikes, so in fact there are only 2 teams present.
Note: All photos when clicked will expand to a bigger size, but do let the whole page load first before you click.
This is the team of Katja Poensgen, a very able German female rider.
Last minute adjustments. No these guys to have access to the pit lane, everything is done outside in the paddocks and fields.
Almost ready for the first free practice.
And off they go, all three of them. Eerie silent, even at high speeds (and they do go fast). The FP pace was 2.02 and 2:15 for the Munch team, and 3:36 for the EPO racing team (by comparison, the best Bol d'Or bike is doing 1:41)
Nice style, but not that aggressive. Have a look at the same place but in the Bol D'Argent category (the three hours race).
Knees down, all the way...
... but nice nevertheless...
This one looks more like an electric moped...
Anyway, as bikes go, they are very fast, and very silent. I also shot some video, so hopefully I'll get the time to edit it and show it to you. I am (still) impressed by electric motorcycles, but not by the race category. It's a waste of space and time, so don't expect much more of it in the next few days.
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