Mugen, MotoCzysz, smashing 2012's TT ZERO lap time record, 110 miles/hr lap speed in sight

John McGuiness (Mugen) during Friday's practice
Courtesy IOMTT.COM

Both MotoCzysz and Mugen are smashing the TT ZERO record lap speed they'd set during the 2012 session.  During practice/qualifying on Friday and Saturday, both teams gave lap speeds significantly faster than the 2012 record.  And what's even more interesting is that Mugen's John McGuiness seems to be beating MotoCzysz's Mark Rutter.  MotoCzysz is in for some serious competition this year.

I listened live to Saturday's practice - and it's clear all the teams, not just MotoCzysz and Mugen, have improved considerably since last year.

Because the TT race is such a long lap (38ish miles, winding around the Isle of Man and over the top of the mountain), Manx Radio has announcers scattered along the course, and the broadcast cycles through the announcers in order along the track.  The announcer at Ramsey Hairpin, at the base of the mountain, described all the bikes as handling this turn much better than last year.  This is a hairpin turn that begins the ascent up the mountain, the bikers have to slow almost to a stop and then accelerate up the slope.  Previously the electric bikes had problems with this corner, but not this year.

Sulby Speed Trap times were 135.5 miles/hr for Mark Miller (MotoCzysz), 125.9 miles/hr for Michael Rutter (MotoCzysz), 99.9 miles/hr for Chris Mcgahan (Vercamoto), 98.7 miles/hr for Paul Owen (Brunel Univ).

I haven't seen final results published by the IOMTT staff yet.  However, the announcer reported that Rutter had the fastest lap time, 107.82 miles/hr.  Also that George Spence, riding the Ion Horse, finished on Saturday with a 83.32 miles/hr lap time.

But this is unclear because John McGuiness's bike (Mugen) wasn't being registered by the timing computers.  He may well have had a faster speed trap time, and faster lap time, and we won't know until the final results are published.  Now that the results have been published (see below) we see he came in 2nd that day, with a 102.20 miles/hr lap time.  From Friday's results, Rutter had a 104.63 miles/hr lap time, and McGuiness had a 105.65 miles/hr lap time.

Mark Miller finished with a 104.40 miles/hr lap speed in 3rd place 21ish minutes lap time, I don't know the speed.  However, in the final speed point he was recorded going 29ish miles/hr indicating his bike probably (educated guess) had run real low on electricity.  At 21ish minutes, he did finish a little faster than on Friday when he put in a 22:07 minutes lap time, for a 102.33 miles/hr average lap speed.

Rob Barber, riding the Buckeye entry from The Ohio State University, came in last with a 70.07 miles/hr lap time.

I'll update this post when they unveil final results for Saturday's round.

The bottom line is that the top three bikes are significantly beating last years results, and are showing significant improvements between Friday and Saturday.

MotoCzysz's goal for 2013 is to not only continue their winning streak, but to beat a 110 miles/hr lap time.  They're in for a tough competition with Mugen for the #1 spot on the podium, but the 110 miles/hr lap time is within sight.

They have one more practice round on Monday afternoon, and the race is scheduled for Wednesday.

For friday's results see http://www.electricracenews.com/2013/06/mugen-beats-motoczysz-in-2013-tt-zero.html