Electric Motorcycle To Compete In The Le Touquet Enduropale |
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File under Electrical Racing Zero Motorcycles
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Normandy, France
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The Le Touquet Enduropale  is an extremely tough and long beach motorcycle enduro race held in the Northern part of France. And that it is tough can be seen by its founder, since it was none other than Thierry Sabine who started the Dakar rally. In fact, both the Dakar rally and the Le Touquet enduro were run by the same organization for a long time (ASO).
The beach race is held over a distance of some 18 kilometers per lap, and lasts 3 hours. On Sunday, January 30th 2011, over 1,000 motorcycles will take part, all starting at the same time. And in midst of the rumbling throb of motorcycles will be on very silent one, a Zero MX electric motorcycle.
The motorcycle/quad dealer in Toulouse, ATV Quad 31 , is entering a Zero MX to compete against all the gas guzzling cousins, piloted by Thibault Veuillet, French Champion and World Champion Teams (not on motorcycle, but on mountain bikes). Thibault is part of the Craze-Team , and despite not being a professional motorcycle racer, he is a lover of motorcycles and extreme sports, and often rides his motorcycle on the beaches of South West France. But as a former mountain biking champion he has extreme racing in his veins.
The only obstacle will be distance. As we know, electric motorcycles don't have the range gasoline powered ones have, and no way will the electric bike run more than one lap, let alone the whole distance of 3 hours. The Zero MX has sufficient charge of 30 minutes, and a single lap can take 15-20 minutes, so we'll see multiple pit stops. This will allow the electric motorcycle to come on every lap to swap batteries. Despite the handicap, the Zero MX should be very fast in the sand and jumps.
Initially, the dealer in Toulouse and the Craze-Team were involved, but now Zero Motorcycles have pitched in, and the three are going to make a stab at performing well in this race.
But it'll be interesting to see how the electric Zero will play against 999+ off-road motorcycles.
If you want to read more about this famous and wacky race, read the related articles below.
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