Remniscing over AHRMA's history with TTXGP electric motorcycle racing

The other day we learned of a new electric motorcycle racing series that will be run under the AHRMA umbrella.  There's actually a fair bit of history of AHRMA hosting electric motorcycle racing, and I thought it might be worth recounting that history.

First, AHRMA is the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association.  In practice most of their bikes are loud 2 stroke machines from decades ago, that AHRMA members lovingly keep in a restored condition, racing them at AHRMA events.  They hold events across the country, but as a club racing series those events are not well attended.  Instead, it's the racers, their friends and family.

Thad Wolff riding Team Electra's 2010 race bike
Waiting for the start at AHRMA's event
At Barber Motorsports Park

The first instance I know of where an electric motorcycle raced at an AHRMA event came in October 2010.  Team Electra, the brain-child of Brian Richardson, had raced in the 2010 and 2011 TTXGP seasons with a Norton Featherbed motorcycle from the 1950's that had been converted to electric.  At the end of the 2010 season, the team had a chance to go to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham Alabama for an AHRMA event. 

After going through qualifying races, AHRMA decided their best fit was the GP-350 class.  During the race, rider Thad Wolff, lapped the whole of the GP-350 riders and was working on lapping the riders in the next faster class.  (AHRMA routinely runs multiple classes at the same time)

That was the first known instance of an electric motorcycle entering a gas motorcycle race, competing for points, and winning.

Lightning Motorcycles brought two bikes
to the 2011 TTXGP World Final

AHRMA then hosted the TTXGP North American finals events for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.  That occurred both years at Miller Motorsports Park outside of Salt Lake City.

The 2011 TTXGP final featured one of the more interesting line-ups in electric motorcycle racing history, so far.   It came a little over a month following the 2011 TTXGP/e-Power race at Laguna Seca during which Mission Motors beat the pants off both MotoCzysz and Lightning Motorcycles, setting a lap speed record that still stands today.  The line-up at Miller featured MotoCzysz, Lightning, Brammo, Team Electra, and Proto Moto (Ely Schless).  MotoCzysz won the race, beating Lightning by 30 seconds.

The 2012 TTXGP final (and this) had a rather different line-up, featuring Brammo, Virginia Tech, and several bikes from Zero Motorcycles.  By this time Eric Bostrom had joined the Brammo line-up and had raced with them in a couple events.

The 2012 season was the first year in which Zero Motorcycle's bikes were credible enough for racing in the TTXGP.  They'd raced all year with a fleet of four bikes and an ever-changing roster of riders.

The 2012 season was a turning point in electric motorcycle racing, because the field to be dominated by Brammo, with prototype high-end bikes, and Zero Motorcycles, with manufactured bikes close to 250cc performance levels.  In 2010 and 2012 the field was dominated by prototype bikes or home-built conversions.  With the 2012 season, factory prototypes and manufactured bikes became the norm.

The 2012 TTXGP World Final, held during the AHRMA weekend at Daytona International Speedway, featured the same line-up as the North American final (Brammo, Virginia Tech, and Zero Motorcycles) plus Catavolt came all the way from Australia to race. 

The most amazing part of that event was the performance of the two Brammo bikes.  Eric Bostrom and team-mate Steve Atlas both were hitting 170 miles/hr in race conditions.  Just two years previously, Lightning Motorcycles had set the electric motorcycle land speed record at 176 miles/hr (which they surpassed with a 215 miles/hr record in 2011).  But there they were, on a race track, rather than a straight line track like is used in land speed racing, hitting nearly the same speed, in race conditions.

This event turned out to be Steve Atlas' last time racing with Brammo.

For the 2013 season, the TTXGP no longer existed, and the new series, eRoadRacing World Cup, had to operate under different conditions.  Namely, they could only hold races at FIM homologated race tracks, resulting in only four events this year all of which came during MotoGP weekends.  That meant no AHRMA/TTXGP events in 2013.

What all this means is that AHRMA is already familiar with the electric motorcycle scene.  They know who we are, and how to deal with us.

Because AHRMA events are quiet little affairs, we'll be missing out on something the TTXGP originally sought -- exposure before large audiences.  The TTXGP's first event, 2009 at the Isle of Man, was on one of the largest stages one could imagine, TT Week.  During the 2010 season the TTXGP was able to race at AMA events, in front of large audiences.  But something happened beginning with the 2011 season, and TTXGP was no longer able to race at AMA events and instead ended up at less attended club racing events.

By working with the AHRMA this new series won't be in front of large audiences.  But maybe the sport is too young for what the large audience events demand.  They're expecting 600cc superbike or MotoGP speeds, and the number of electric motorcycles that can hit such speeds are, well, extremely rare.  Namely, MotoCzysz's two bikes, the Mission Motors 2011 bike, Lightning's two bikes, Brammo's two bikes, and maybe bikes from Meunch or Zongshen.  Everyone else has speeds closer to the 250cc-450cc classes.

The other requirement for large audience events is enough awareness that fans will pay for tickets to see them race.  Do enough people know about electric motorcycle racing to form a large enough fan base?  I don't think so. 

I suspect that racing at AHRMA events could give the electric motorcycle racing sport time to mature a bit before trying again to break into the big time.  Except that the eRoadRacing organization will presumably make another go of a racing season in 2014.  What will eRoadRacing's plans be?  And how will it overlap with this new series?   Will the new series even be able to get off the ground?  Lots of questions remain.

2013 eRoadRacing World Cup (replaces TTXGP/e-Power) provisional calendar now available

The electric motorcycle racing world finally gained some clarity with the release of a provisional schedule for the FIM eRoadRacing World Cup.  This new series is replacing both the TTXGP and FIM e-Power series.  Both of those series are now deceased, and eRoadRacing World Cup takes their place. 

The plan to replace both TTXGP and e-Power with a new series was announced on March 5, 2013.  At that time further details were expected to be announced shortly, leaving the teams and others getting more and more anxious as the days ticked by. 

That wait has come to an end with the release of the provisional calendar for the 2013 eRoadRacing season:

The calendar is pretty skimpy, but of course the rationalization is that it's being released late in the season.  That is, as each day ticks by with no agreement to release further details, the organizers have fewer and fewer options.  Note that there are to-be-confirmed items, and that additional dates could be added.  The World Final race is due to be held in Asia but that date and location is to-be-confirmed.

Did you notice the word "Provisional"?  Good.  This is clearly a provisional calendar ;-) but I suspect that the North American dates are firm except for the possible fourth date.

The choice of the venues are in part because, it being an FIM series, the event must be held at an FIM-homologated track (I sure hope I have that correct, or I might get another lecture from someone at the FIM about accuracy).  North America has very few such tracks, limiting the choices.

The new site is going to be eRoadRacing.com - I checked, and WHOIS shows that name registered to TTXGP Ltd.  At the moment it's just showing a parking page, but we should expect a site launch .. er .. soon?  One hopes?

The last thing I'll note is that this provisional calendar does nothing to settle the open questions I'd listed in an earlier post (see links above).  It settles us on the name and some of the dates, but leaves other questions open.

Source: fim-live.com

Waiting patiently for schedules etc on series replacing the TTXGP/e-Power

Last week I was able to disclose news of a merger between the TTXGP and FIM e-Power electric motorcycle racing series.  While the news itself was exciting and promising to heal the schism between those two series, it left out some important details.  These details are important ones that race teams must know to plan their year, line up sponsorships, and more.

For example -

• Rules & classes (we only know rules will be very similar to 2012's rules)
• Name of the series (we only know it will neither be called TTXGP nor e-Power)
• Fees to participate
• Event schedule (we only know it'll be alongside MotoGP races)

In previous years the schedule for both TTXGP and e-Power was published in January or earlier, giving the teams time to prepare and schedule themselves.  Likewise the rules and series name were already known quantities.

The press releases were sent over a week ago.  Time is ticking and the teams need to know the plan.

New joint FIM/TTXGP series to replace both TTXGP and e-Power electric motorcycle racing series

The TTXGP and FIM announced today a historic change in the face of electric motorcycle racing.  The two organizations have announced an agreement under which both the TTXGP and e-Power racing series will be replaced by a new series.  The announcement resolves several years of schism which split electric motorcycle racing into these two camps, and may help to accelerate the "growth and higher profile" for this sport.

Matthias Himmelman, Muench Racing

This is a ten year deal under which the TTXGP will transition to the role of "Race Promoter" and the FIM will be positioned as the sanctioning body for electric motorcycle racing.  Prior to this the TTXGP tried to fill multiple sets of shoes, racing promoter, technical standards, and race sanctioning.  This announcement puts electric motorcycle racing in the same pattern as other motorcycle racing series, where the FIM handles technical and sanctioning work, and a race promoter organization handling the marketing.  For example the MotoGP's race promoter is Dorna.

The new series (whose name was not been revealed) will (in 2013-14) be run as a "World Cup" and as a support class to other FIM events, such as the MotoGP.  For 2013 there will be two championship series, one in Europe, the other in North America, with the World Final in Asia.  The dates and locations of these events were not yet disclosed.

An astute reader will notice that Australia is missing from this list.  As we noted the other day, the partnership between the eFXC and TTXGP has ended, with the eFXC choosing to go its own way.

Steve Atlas, Brammo

The rules for 2013 have not been announced, but the TTXGP says to expect those shortly, and that for 2013 they'll be as close as possible to the 2012 rules.

For 2014 the configuration will change again with the electric motorcycle racing series operating under a global championship calendar, with at least six events spread over three continents.  Teams will accumulate points over the season, and there will not be a World Final race.   In that year it will still operate as a support class to other events.

Starting in 2015 the organizations expect the electric motorcycle racing series to be "a headline event in its own right with a global calendar."  What this means is that the series will stop being a support class for other racing events, but instead stage its own events.  It will also be the "world’s first all-electric World Championship" and consist of racing weekends across three continents.  The details of, for example, the racing classes have not been nailed down and the TTXGP says "will be announcing deals with new partners over the course of the next 18 months."

Lightning Motorcycles,
almost certainly Michael Barnes

FIM President Vito Ippolito said of the groundbreaking new series: “Through this agreement, we are taking another important step towards the growth and promotion of clean electric road racing. The FIM is committed to furthering sports events for electric motorcycles which will certainly be a major component of the motor sport of the future”.

TTXGP founder Azhar Hussain considers the agreement a milestone in the development of electric motor sport: “This partnership with the FIM clears the way for a single destination for all the world’s innovators to drive the next generation of technologies for competitive motor sport beyond the grid. We look forward to working with the FIM on this exciting project”.

There are many more details remaining to be announced:

• The name of the series
• The schedule for 2013 in Europe and North America
• The vehicle classes allowed to participate

Source:

The FIM Teams Up With TTXGP For Promotion of New e-Road Racing Series
 
TTXGP/FIM - the roadmap for the electric FIM World Championship

Historic new electric motorcycle racing series launched by Hollywood Electrics and M1GP

Electric motorcycle dealer, Hollywood Electrics, and the M1GP, is making history by bringing the first electric motorcycle racing class to club-level racing.  Anybody with a qualifying electric motorcycle can run in M1GP races, and win points within the electric motorcycle class over the season.  It sounds like the requirements are laid back and the organizers are open to anyone with an electric motorcycle who wants to race.

The M1GP is a club racing series in Southern California, operating at race tracks in Santa Maria, CA, Rosamond, CA, and Apple Valley, CA.  You can learn more about them at http://www.m1-grandprix.com/

Harlan Flagg likened the M1GP to me as a series that's marketed for beginners in motorcycle racing, or "as the little league of motorcycle racing."  It apparently doesn't even require a motorcycle racing license to participate.  A rider can get their feet wet in the M1GP and if they desire move on to the WERA or even AMA racing series.

This is a great opportunity for electric motorcycle owners to see what they and their bikes can do.

It's also an opportunity to build electric motorcycle racing interest from the ground up, at the grass roots of motorcycle racing. 

By contrast Flagg described the TTXGP as attempting to build electric motorcycle racing interest from the top down. 

This partnership with the M1GP is not seen as putting Hollywood Electrics in competition with the TTXGP, but to place them in a complementary role.  If it works out as expected, the series may serve as a venue for grooming future electric motorcycle racers that will go on to the TTXGP.

"Hollywood Electrics is excited to partner with M1GP to establish an accessible outlet for electric motorcycle owners who are interested in road racing," said Harlan Flagg, owner of Hollywood Electrics and Zero Motorcycles' top dealer. “Production electric motorcycles have reached a performance level similar to that of the smaller displacement bikes the riders of M1GP have always relied on. By introducing an electric motorcycle class, electric riders can have confidence knowing that there is a safe and welcoming venue for aspiring racers. It is our belief that having more bikes on the track, whether gas or electric, will benefit the sport and continue to breed safer and confident riders.”

“I think electric bikes are attractive to a group of riders which may not have considered racing conventional race bikes for a variety of reasons, but can appreciate competitive and spirited riding & racing. We're excited about electric bike racers to come mix it up and being part of the M1GP community. I got to ride an electric bike during the time trials at the kart track with Brandon Miller and there was some concern that the size of the bike on the tight kart track wouldn’t be much fun, but it was a blast! With some of the other circuits we're racing (Streets of Willow and Horse Thief Mile), the 2013 M1GP season is going to make for a wide variety of courses & some great racing”, said Young Lee, owner of M1GP.  “I'm thrilled that Harlan and Hollywood Electrics are joining the M1GP season and racing community”

Brammo has posted a teaser photo of the Brammo Empulse TTX

This teaser picture was posted by Brammo on Facebook showing a part of the Empulse TTX.

It is based on Empulse R (as expected) so all the positive experience Empulse R owners are giving will be carrying over to the TTX.

The Empulse TTX was announced in July 2011, the weekend of the e-Power/TTXGP race at Laguna Seca.  Essentially the deal is Brammo is building some of the Empulse's to TTXGP race specifications. Then an interested team purchases the bike, along with one year of entry fees to TTXGP races.  See
Brammo and TTXGP announce strategic partnership around the Empulse race bike
This should put the Empulse TTX in the group which was called eSuperStock during the 2012 season. That award group was made up of electric motorcycles in production quantities over 25 units sold.  By the time the season starts Brammo will have delivered 25 Empulse R's, I'd imagine.

We should expect Empulse TTX details to be announced shortly because teams need to start lining up their bikes for the 2013 season.

For reference, here's a picture of a regular Empulse R that was also just posted by Brammo on Facebook

This image is of an Empulse TTX posted in December by Brammo on Facebook

Electric racing (TTXGP, ZERCUP, Formula E, etc) predictions for 2013

As arbitrary as our calendar is, this is a new year (by the way we reckon time) and, well, here's my thoughts about what we'll see in the coming year in electric racing.  Overall I think we've seen great leaps over the last three years of electric racing, and I see that 2013 will be a huge leap over 2012.

1. The TTXGP will continue struggling with audience and racer participation.  When they announced the new Chief Commercial Officer and opened hiring for a Marketing Manager, their announcement claims this is part of a plan to raise the TTXGP's profile in the world.  That should translate into more interest, more fans, more sponsorship dollars, etc.  But, do I have any confidence about this?  No.

We're entering the 5th year of TTXGP (4th year of it as a track race series), and last year was bleak in terms of actual interest.  At the same time the technology has made huge leaps, and there was some truly exciting racing action in 2012.  At the 2012 Laguna Seca race we saw five bikes equaling the lap times of 600cc superbikes, and at the 2012 World Final (Daytona) Brammo's Empulse RR's hit 170 miles/hr in race conditions.  Two years ago that was the land speed record (set by Lightning), this year it was the top speed in regular competition.

At the same time the TTXGP events were being played to empty grand stands, and I was the only journalist covering the race.  Well, in North America.  I am not certain anybody was even covering the TTXGP races elsewhere.  Motorsports relies on ticket sales to convince sponsors to pony up the money that keeps it all going.  No fans, no ticket sales, no sponsors.  Unless you can find sponsors with a long range vision of what this could be in a couple years time.

I've talked with +Azhar Hussain about the future of the TTXGP - He's got a nice long term vision about where this is going, and I largely agree with the goal.  But I don't expect much of that vision to come about in 2013.

2. The most important electric motorcycle events of the year will continue to be the TT-ZERO and e-Power/TTXGP Laguna Seca.  Neither of which are organized by the TTXGP themselves (the Laguna Seca event is held within the context of a MotoGP event, and has huge logistics and marketing support from FIM's e-Power).  Both of these races get a fair amount of attention, both from the Press and from the Racers.  Both have served as a great benchmark for the gains in electric motorcycle technology.  Again, I am expressing doubts that the TTXGP will gain any attention, but also that the e-Power events outside the Laguna Seca race will gain any attention.

3. The drag racers will make another speed breakthrough.  Last May a drag bike broke 200 miles/hr in a 1/4 mile drag race.  I still fail to see the overall significance of drag racing, but the people doing it are real proud of themselves, and it is amazing to hit such a speed in such a short distance.  I would think they'll bump it up to 210 or more maybe?

4. There may be another electric motorcycle land speed record breakthrough.  First, the KillaJoule team has been going to land speed events at Bonneville and elsewhere looking to hit 300 miles/hr or more with their streamlined electric sidecar motorcycle.  They've been facing technical difficulties, and will no doubt sort that out and set an impressive record this year or next.  Second, there's the issue of the existing record for regular superbikes.  Lightning Motorcycles has a non-FIM record of 215 miles/hr while Chip Yates has the FIM record at just shy of 200 miles/hr.  Both of those were set in 2011.  Lightning or someone else may want to do something about this.

At Daytona, in the context of Brammo's 170 miles/hr speed on the track, I asked Brian whether they'd be going for the land speed record.  He said "No," they don't find that sort of record interesting.  MotoCzysz and Mission Motors have been past land speed record contestants.  Lightning may feel their existing non-FIM record gives them a strong enough laurel that they don't need to go to the salt yet.

5. The TT-ZERO competition will heat up even more, with MotoCzysz gunning for an even faster lap, Mugen hot on their tails, and Lightning may even complete the race.  Last year, 2012, was when MotoCzysz broke the ton and recorded a 104 miles/hr lap time.  That breakthrough was a long time coming, but perhaps the bigger news was the presence of Mugen (apparently a Honda proxy) at the event.  Assuming that Mugen truly is a Honda proxy, this means we aren't many years out from direct participation by the major motorcycle makers in electric motorcycle racing.

Lightning Motorcycles has gone to the Isle of Man in both 2011 and 2012 and failed to complete the race each time.  In 2012 they even failed to get to the starting line.  One assumes they'll attempt it again in 2013, and one hopes they'll complete the race this time.

6. +Brammo may very well blow away Lightning in 2013.  In 2010 and 2011, Lightning had the North America TTXGP to itself with bikes far more powerful than any of the competition.  But, Lightning had some reliability problems in 2011 and 2012 - They weren't able to make it to the 2011 Infineon race, and at the 2011 North American final one of their bikes broke down with a chain break, and the other nearly had the same problem.  In 2012, Lightning had two bikes at Infineon each of which broke down during the race which then left the Zero's (+ZERO MOTORCYCLES) as the winners.  In the meantime, Brammo kept improving and improving their bike.  While Lightning beat Brammo every time they faced off in competition, the margin of victory was slim at the 2012 Laguna Seca race.  Due to some snafu's Lightning and Brammo did not face off again in 2012, and it seems that if Lightning had showed themselves at Daytona they might well have lost.

7. The Virginia Tech Bolt team has promised a proper superbike for 2013, and I suspect they may pull it off.  Their initial showing in 2012 was pretty solid, however hampered it was by being in the TTX75 class.

8. Formula E will be announcing more venues for the 2014 launch, and we'll see them in exhibition action during 2013.  This isn't much of a stretch, because that's their actual announced plans.

9. Another electric race car series, ZERCUP, may come out of the shadows and announce their plans.  I've been talking with their CEO and know a few things, that I've not been given the green light to reveal.  If both theirs and Formula E's plans turn out as expected we could see two high profile electric car racing series in 2014.

10. Electric cars and motorcycles could make a bigger presence at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.  The 2012 Pikes Peak race saw two electric cars in the top 10 cars, and other electric cars placing well.

11. Lightning Motorcycles appears close to selling at least one duplicate of the race bike.  They've long described their race bike as a production electric motorcycle, but with zero sales it technically isn't "in production" is it?  They tell me they've got an order in hand for a bike, and perhaps another one ready to place the deposit.  One or more of these bikes could well end up in competition somewhere.

12. The TTXGP will shake up the field again with a new set of racing classes.  For 2012 we had the TTX75 and eSuperStock awards (which were not technically classes, but awards).  The first was defined as bikes with 7.5 kilowatt-hours of energy (or less), and the latter was for bikes in production volumes over 25 units.  Because Brammo is going to have over 25 Empulse R's sold and delivered by the time the season starts, the TTXGP may want to change the definitions around again.

For 2013 both Zero and Brammo have production bikes rated at over 100 miles/hr.  If Lightning can pull it off, they'll also have a "commuter bike" with a similar speed, but probably not 25 units of sales.  By the current definition, both Zero and Brammo owners will be able to race eSuperStock.  Additionally, Brammo is expected to deliver the Empulse TTX specifically for TTXGP race teams.

But will the TTXGP keep the class organization as they had it in 2012?  Or change it around again?

13. The Nurburgring will see more electric race car lap speed action.  Toyota has gone to that track the last two years to set lap speed records with an electric Formula car.  Maybe another organization will also do it?

14. The REFUEL race will have yet another awesome event that goes under-covered.  The REFUEL event is a track day organized by a racing school, Speed Ventures, that operates at the Laguna Seca raceway.  The event is open only to electric vehicles (motorcycles and cars primarily) and has been held for 4 years now.  The attendance has increased every year, with 2012 having twice as many attendees as 2011.  That's largely due to the large number of electric cars now in the hands of regular people.  That made for 32 electric cars on the track at Laguna Seca in the same event.  Of those, approximately 12 were Tesla Model S's or Tesla Roadsters (+Tesla Motors).

Brammo testing Empulse R/RR/TTX at Thunderhill with Bostrom and Moreda

Virginia Tech isn't the only TTXGP team getting ready for the 2013 season.  Today, Brammo was at Thunderhill for a private track-day with Shelina Moreda and Eric Bostrom.  Let's try to not read too much into Steve Atlas not being there, okay?  They had at the track Empulse R's, Empulse RR's and Empulse TTX's.  Further, it's clear that Moreda is getting prepped to race with Team Icon Brammo in the 2013 season.  There had been rumors she would race with the team in 2012 but that ended up not happening.

On Facebook, Moreda posted this picture

Her comment was: "Wow. Thank You Brammo & Thank You Eric Bostrom!! This is one of the coolest days I've had at the track! Private trackday, testing the newest technologies in racing, got to ride my TTX for the first time, Learning from E-Boz!! It doesn't get much better than this. #Pumped"

The important takeaway is "My TTX" .. indicating that Moreda will be riding an Empulse TTX during the 2013 season, rather than an Empulse RR.

Brammo has posted a few pictures as well

"Track test at Thunderhill: Empulse, Empulse R, Empulse RR, Empulse TTX - with Shelina & EBoz Stay tuned for more photos..."

"Brian preps TTX for the track"  Okay, if we could see past Brian's body we could see something about what the Empulse TTX is made of.  The only thing I gather from this is that the frame on the TTX is different than on the RR.

"Eric heads out for some RR testing."

"Brian takes the RR for a spin."

"Sun going down on a cool winter day at Thunderhill."  This is either an Empulse R or TTX

VA Tech BOLT team making progress on GP Class bike for the 2013 TTXGP season

The 2012 North America TTXGP season saw the entry of the Virginia Tech BOLT team, a student team supported in part by Kollmorgen who supplied the motor and controller.  The team showed an impressive performance for their first season, with a bike that performed well in its class, and a great physical presence in the paddock.  While they were completely outclassed by the likes of Brammo and Lightning, they weren't attempting to compete directly with those teams anyway.  In July, the team announced their intention to develop a "GP Class bike" for the 2013 season.  Recent activity on the teams Facebook page indicates those plans are well underway.

First, in late October they posted this picture

"Look what Pat found. Thanks to Go Race for all of their help. Now the real work begins."

Unless I'm missing something this looks like there isn't a seat.  They're engineering students, presumably they already figured this out (grin).

Then in late November, this picture showing a team-member scanning the stripped frame to generate a 3D CAD model of the bike.

"Scanning in the bike."

Then on December 6, this picture shows the CAD model:-

"Thanks to Matrix CAD Design we've got a very accurate model to work with this year:
http://carscan3d.com/"

Then this week they posted: "Batteries coming in Friday. Now we get to start building."

Follow the team at: http://www.facebook.com/VTBOLT

TTXGP hires "Chief Commercial Officer", looking for a new Marketing Manager

Steve Kingswell, Chief Commercial Officer, TTXGP

The TTXGP announced today that Steve Kingswell has joined the organization with the title "Chief Commercial Officer" and at the same time they are on the hunt for a "Marketing Manager."  Kingswell comes to the TTXGP with a background in media & management & business management, and his previous role was Chief Financial Officer at Babel Media, an interactive entertainment outsourcing firm.

The press release (see link below) doesn't say much more than this.  The ad for the Marketing Manager job (on LinkedIn) has some interesting things to say, however.  Such as "The company is on the verge of an exciting period in its development, and is looking for a professional marketer to support that development."  The Marketing Manager will be reporting to Kingswell, and have a "360 degree scope, for PR, publicity, planning, marketing communications, brand management, social media activities, & product."

Also, the Marketing Manager's "objective is to raise significant awareness, & via strong engagement activities, create desire to be associated with our brand & events, online & offline, with a view to driving significant growth in our sponsorship & commercial partner incomes."
I've sent a query over to the TTXGP office to get some clarification on a couple points, but this fits with  what I know of TTXGP's plans for the future.  The goal is to upgrade the presence of the TTXGP in the world and to focus more on race promotion work.  There are other changes likely to come in the future where the TTXGP's functions and relationship to the FIM will be changing, allowing the TTXGP to focus solely on race promotion.

What I don't understand is how Kingswell's background fits with motorsports.  One thing I've learned in 4 years now of covering electric racing is that motorsports people have a mind-set those outside the motorsports industry lack.  He clearly has a strong background in media and entertainment, but will this mean that because he is a motorsports outsider he'll be like an oval peg fitting into a round hole?


See: http://www.egrandprix.com/news.php?id=324

What will happen to TTXGP in 2013 because AMA Pro Racing is not returning

In late October, the Sonoma Raceway (previously known as Sears Point and Infineon Raceway) announced: "The raceway in Sonoma will not host an AMA Pro Racing event during the 2013 motor-racing season, track officials announced today." That event has been the umbrella event within which each TTXGP North America season began. This will mean the 2013 TTXGP season calendar will not begin with an event at the Sonoma Raceway. We won't know the precise effect until the TTXGP announces their calendar, however.

Michael Hannas (Electric Race Bikes)
about to be passed by Kenyon Kluge (K Squared Racing)
during practice at the 2010 TTXGP at Infineon Raeway

The TTXGP race events have always been in conjunction with other race events. In the case of the Infineon race each season (Infineon Raceway being the name of the track at that time), it was the weekend of the AMA Pro Racing event. The TTXGP events themselves are not enough to support the cost of operating a race weekend. As I write below, the TTXGP cannot at this time host its own events and relies on other organizations to do so.

The announcement from the Sonoma Raceway says that "AMA Pro Road Racing has been featured on the raceway calendar every year since 1993," and that track management believe "that current conditions within the motorcycle industry and the economy at large did not provide the necessary confidence to promote a financially viable event in 2013."

“This facility has a long tradition of professional motorcycle racing and this was a very difficult decision. It’s particularly disappointing because the competition over the last few years has been outstanding and we’re sorry we won’t be able to bring this show back for our fans," said Steve Page, president and general manager of the raceway.

As an example of the outstanding competition, at the 2012 event Michael Barnes (who rides for Lightning Motorcycles in the TTXGP) was riding in the Harley race and took an amazing win that he had been working for years to achieve. He was hot on the heels of the lead bike all through the race, until the last corner of the last lap when he heard the transmission slip on the lead bike letting Barnes zoom past at the last minute to snatch first place. I was in the press room trying to write my TTXGP race report, but could not because the Harley race was so interesting.

In 2009 the sole TTXGP event in North America was held at the Mid-Ohio Racetrack in conjunction with the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days event in late July. In 2010 the TTXGP events were held in conjunction with AMA race weekends at several tracks, and in conjunction with the Canadian equivalent when the TTXGP came to Mosport near Toronto.

In the 2011 and 2012 seasons the situation changed a bit. In each year the first race was at the Sonoma Raceway (at that time, Infineon Raceway) in conjunction with the AMA Pro Racing weekend. The other races were held in conjunction with Club Racing events, or else in conjunction with the FIM e-Power series. For example the June 2012 TTXGP event was held during an OMRRA Club Racing weekend at Portland International Raceway (PIR).

The three races held at Laguna Seca during the MotoGP weekend (2010, 2011 and 2012) were all sponsored by the FIM e-Power series. The first year that occurred, 2010, was solely a FIM e-Power event. The second two years, 2011 and 2012, were joint events run jointly between e-Power and the TTXGP. There is an AMA race on the same weekend, but the presence of the AMA is separate from the presence of the TTXGP at that event. The entire event is organized and managed by Dorna, the company which organizes the whole MotoGP season. The arrangements under which I attended each of those races was made through FIM and Dorna.

The result is that because the TTXGP is not a big enough deal, on its own, to host its own race events, its' ability to host a race is subject to the whims of other organizations. The AMA and Sonoma Raceway probably didn't even consider the impact on the TTXGP from canceling the AMA Pro Racing event at Sonoma.

The TTXGP is doing fantastic fabulous things. There has been a tremendous movement in electric motorcycle technology since 2009, and I think it's correct to say the TTXGP played a large role in those improvements. But this did not result in throngs of fans coming to see the races. What pays for the race venues is those throngs of fans buying tickets, and more importantly the sponsors seeing an opportunity to put their brands in front of throngs of fans. Until the TTXGP fans are found the series is going to continue struggling to put on races.

AMA Will Not Return to Sonoma in 2013

TTXGP World Final at Daytona Raceway this weekend

It's here, the final race of the 2012 TTXGP with the world final in North America for the first time. As I write this I am on the airplane heading to Daytona to bring you the racing action as it happens. Unfortunately I don't have an official entry list to share, but a few of the teams have posted pictures and stuff about being on their way or have already arrived at the track.


What I've seen so far is: Catavolt tweeted last week that they were packed up and already on their way to Daytona. Muench has posted pictures on Facebook of the Elam lounging around in a hotel bar, indicating they are not worried. Brammo has posted a teaser video and I've seen a tweet from Steve Atlas yesterday that he was at SFO on his way to Florida. No word from Zongshen or Lightning. I did see a note from Jeremiah Johnson that he will get to ride some kind of motorcycle in the race, but not his own build. It was reported on Richard Dorts podcast that both Zero and Virginia Tech have pulled out.

This means it looks like the field will be the Top Bikes, except for Catavolt which I believe is not in the same performance league. I can't imagine that Lightning will skip the World Final, so let's just assume they will be there. Whether Zongshen will be there I have no idea, but one hopes they do come.

With a field primarily containing Top Bikes we should see the first TTXGP that is a full-on superbike level of performance. In every other TTXGP event the field has been split into Top Bikes and the Slower ones. Not to disrespect anybody's contribution to the effort of electric racing, but this disparity in performance is something whose time needs to pass. The sport needs to move towards separating the fast bikes and slow bikes into their own races. The slow bikes look bad when they're getting passed like they're standing still.

But that's tangential to the race this weekend.

Earlier I wrote up a prediction of the results, but came to the conclusion it would be a race between Brammo and Lightning for the top spot with Meunch behind them. A lot depends on whether Lightning does indeed attend, and unfortunately they have been known to disappoint us in the past. The wild cards are whether Zongshen shows up, how they perform, and additionally whether the teams have amped anything up since their last races.

Infineon Raceway TTXGP 2010 North American Championship - by @egrandprix

Round 1 of the North American TTXGP 2010 Championship took place at Infineon Raceway, in Sonoma, near San Francisco, California

Azhar Hussain on the State of the TTXGP, the eSuperStock award, and TTXGP grid size

At the TTXGP race recently held at the Infineon Raceway, some chaps with Motorcycle.COM interviewed Azhar Hussain on the state of the TTXGP.

The video is really just a teaser of some longer piece they have posted on their website, in that this sounds like the beginning of a longer piece of conversation, which I haven't looked at, but since I've talked with Azhar a zillion times on this topic, here's my take.

TTXGP 2010 Infineon, Saturday Afternoon

What Azhar talks about here is the high level status of the TTXGP.  The organization has grown from offering a single race in 2009 on the Isle of Man, as well as an exhibition event at the Mid-Ohio Raceway later that summer, then in 2010 they launched regular race series in Europe and North America, followed in 2011 with the launch of an additional race series in Australia.

This sounds impressive, until you realize the race grid has never been very large.  The largest starting grid I recall was 12 bikes, which is a lot smaller than typical race grids.  The problem Azhar talks about in the video is the expense of developing a team to race a high end bike, and the lack of suitable production bikes that teams can just buy and modify.  In the gas bike world a team can just by an "RR" version of a bike, set it up the way they want, and go racing.  In the electric bike world, getting a high-end electric superbike requires having top notch electrical engineering skills.  For example, the video shown below spent a lot of time in the Lightning Motorcycles paddock, a team with extremely deep electric racing and electric drive train development experience.

That same race weekend saw the introduction of eSuperStock, a concept that might eventually become a race class within the TTXGP.  It's definition includes any manufactured electric motorcycle which has had sales of more than 25 units, and at the moment the only qualifying electric motorcycle is the Zero S and Zero DS from Zero Motorcycles.  As a "stock" bike, it is to have minimal modifications, only enough to meet TTXGP technical regulations, and whatever suspension changes are required to make the rider happy.  Four Zero S's ran as eSuperStock bikes that weekend, and it was somewhat successful.

The point being that it's a heck of a lot less expensive for a team to get going by buying and modifying a Zero S, than to build an electric superbike.  The TTXGP desperately needs a lot more bikes on the grid.  So the question is, how to get there?

TTXGP announces entrants for 2012 TTXGP Season opener at Infineon Raceway

A couple days the TTXGP crew announced the entry list for this weekends TTXGP 2012 season opener at the Infineon Raceway.  The lineup shows some familiar teams, we expect a battle royale between Lightning Motorcycles and Brammo, and there is a surprise that may delight us.

The entry list (see image below) has:-

• One bike from Brammo, Steve Atlas riding
• Two bikes from Lightning Motors, Michael Barnes and Tim Hunt riding
• One bike from Virginia Tech, Tim Hunt riding
• One bike built and ridden by Jeremiah Johnson (see previous coverage here)  UPDATE: JJ just notified me he wasn't able to finish building the bike, and will not be entering
• Four bikes from Zero Motorcycles, with Kenyon Kluge, Jason Lauritzen (picture below), Jennifer Lauritzen (picture below), and Martin Szwarc riding

The lineup is unsurprising, especially after we learned the other day that Team Moto-Electra would not be participating.  Mission Motors would be hoped to race, especially as their offices are just a few miles away, but that company has made it clear they have little interest in doing much racing, they're way too busy selling components to OEM customers.

The four bikes from Zero Motorcycles is what constitutes the surprise.  They are lumped together into what the TTXGP office is calling a "category" named the "TTXGP eSuperStock".  The TTXGP press release describes this as: "Infineon Raceway's season opener will kick off with a number of Zero S models adapted for racing by their team owners, promising close and exciting racing action as well a cost effective entry option to the race series, joining the the grid without the expense of building a prototype machine."

For a year or so the TTXGP staff has been pondering "should there be a 'spec class' within the TTXGP" so that more teams could participate.  The eSuperStock category is the first attempt at a spec class, but it isn't a proper class that is delineated in the TTXGP rules book.  The TTXGP office sent me a clarification email describing it as an "award" and not a "class," in that during the awards ceremony the four teams racing in the eSuperStock group will be eligible to win in this separate award category.

The definition of eSuperStock is any manufactured motorcycle where a minimum of 25 units/motorcycles have been sold to the public.  The Zero S is the only electric motorcycle, that could be competitive in TTXGP racing, for which this is true.  Brammo's Empulse is, at this time, a preproduction prototype and is not being sold to the public.  While Lightning Motorcycles says they'll sell race bikes to anybody, their production capacity is not "25 or more".

One might think from reading TTXGP's statement on eSuperStock, that these are four individual Zero S owners who have each modified their Zero S's to be race ready.  However a bit of searching turns up a different story.  First, Kenyon Kluge is a Zero Motorcycles employee who is an AMA pro racer, racing under the name KSquared Racing, and has raced in several TTXGP events under that team name.  Next, we should note that Jason Lauritzen rode for Native Motorcycles (Electric Motorsport) in the 2010 TTXGP at Infineon.  Lastly,  I found Facebook postings by Jason Lauritzen and Martin Szwarc thanking Zero Motorcycles for providing bikes so they can race in the TTXGP.

It would seem, then, that these four bikes were provided by Zero Motorcycles, and that Jason, Jennifer and Marc are simply riders for a what is essentially a factory team.  Not that there is anything wrong with this arrangement in the slightest.  At the 2011 Infineon, a team called Volt Motorcycles participated with a modified Zero S, the team was led by college student who was at the time interning for Zero Motorcycles, and Kenyon Kluge was in the paddock helping prep the bike.  At the 2011 Laguna Seca race Kenyon was back, racing under his own name as KSquared Racing.  At the 2011 REFUEL race a whole flotilla of Zero Motorcycles employees were racing with a varied of hacked up Zero S bikes.  This is how Zero participates in the races, not directly as Zero Motorcycles, but indirectly by allowing employees the time to prep bikes and race.

The TTX75 was, last year, a "class" but this year is an "award" as well.  It was an experiment last year that didn't exactly pan out as expected.

The idea for both the TTX75 and eSuperStock awards is to reduce the cost to race enough so that we have a large grid on the track.  As we can see with this line-up, 6 of the 9 entrants into one of the two categories.

At the high end of the spectrum we have Brammo and Lightning Motorcycles pairing up for a rematch. Clearly these two teams will be fielding the fastest bikes, and this is where the battle for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place spots on the podium will be.

Last year Brammo won the TTXGP North American series, largely because Lightning Motorcycles didn't race at Infineon.  In every other race last season Lightning beat Brammo badly, due to having a much more powerful bike.  Neither of these teams will have spent the winter twiddling their thumbs.  Instead they will have both ramped up their game considerably.

In an interview sent by the Infineon Raceway, Brian Wisman said: "For 2012, Brammo has focused on upgrading the powertrain of the bike to a new, more powerful Parker-Hannifin motor along with a physically smaller and lighter motor controller/inverter. The chassis and battery technology remain largely unchanged from last season as we were quite happy with their performance and credit the bike’s handling and durability with helping us bring home our first championship in 2011."

While I have talked with Richard Hatfield (Lightning Motorcycles) I do not have any information that can be shared publicly.  Let's just say that what he shared is amazing, and if it works out as he says the two bikes they'll bring will be amazing.

My prediction?  Lightning Motorcycles will take 1st and 2nd, and Brammo 3rd.  Kenyon Kluge will likely win the eSuperStock.  Jeremiah Johnson Tim Hunt will likely win the TTX75.

http://www.egrandprix.com/news.php?id=275

FIM & TTXGP: JOINT EVENTS IN 2012

After last years struggles between FIM and TTXGP running joint electric motorcycle race events we thought they would not repeat the experiment in 2012.  We are pleasantly pleased and excited to see the following:


Strengthening the collaboration between FIM and TTXGP both parties have once again agreed to combine three rounds of their respective race series2012 FIM e-Power International Championship and the TTXGP World Series 2012.


The joint events will be:

28-29 July       Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (USA) - FIM MotoGP WC
11-12 August   Oschersleben (GER) - FIM Endurance WC
7-8 September Le Mans (FRA) 24 Hours of Le Mans - FIM Endurance WC

With a continuing collaboration in 2012, and looking back at some of the most exciting eRacing in the previous year, this partnership will be a positive step in the growth and promotion of electric clean emission road racing. Holding a selection of joint rounds allows the teams the best possible stage to promote the sport, the technology and the future to the next generation of motorsport.





http://www.fim-live.com/fileadmin/alfresco/FIM_&_TTXGP_joint_events_in_2012.pdf

http://www.egrandprix.com/news.php?id=269

Brammo teases Empulse electric motorcycle details, previewing what might be the Empulse RR bike for the 2013 TTXGP

Brammo first unveiled the Empulse in July 2010, at the time of that years Laguna Seca FIM e-Power race.  The bike was originally going to be on sale in 2011, but due to a design change Brammo decided to push back Empulse production to begin in 2012.  In 2011, in time for the joint TTXGP/e-Power Laguna Seca race, Brammo and TTXGP announced the Empulse TTX would be available for the 2013 TTXGP season.  But, of course, Brammo has to first start delivering the Empulse.  The company sent out an announcement last week saying the official unveiling of the production ready Empulse would be held on May 8, in Los Angeles.

In the meantime Brammo posted the following video teasing the unveiling.  We should assume the bike being teased is a consumer model, and that the TTX model will have an even higher top speed.

Brammo plans to contest entire TTXGP season, including world final

The other day we noted that TTXGP had posted their 2012 North American season schedule, of four races (one location TBD) and plans to hold the TTXGP World Final in Daytona FL.   Over on Facebook, Brammo commented on TTXGP's schedule posting saying this:

We plan to contest every North American Round of TTXGP and the World Final in Daytona. Plus the FIM race at Laguna Seca. More details and announcement of our new sponsor coming soon....

https://www.facebook.com/BrammoInc/posts/169647389816582 

Steve Atlas, riding for Brammo, in the Corckscrew @ Laguna Seca during the FIM e-Power / TTXGP race in July 2011

Brammo may have chosen to wait out the 2012 season and instead focus on the business of building and selling electric motorcycles.  For example, Mission Motors obviously has a top end bike but have repeatedly said that racing isn't their goal, selling motorcycles isn't their goal, instead whatever race participation they do has the goal of a bit of R&D and a bit of attention getting.  On the other hand Lightning Motors has a huge focus on racing, with a longer term goal of selling a line of electric motorcycles riding on the cachet of being the top electric motorcycle race team.  Brammo's goals seem to be somewhere in the middle in that they're committed to selling a line of electric motorcycles, and at the same time are interested in racing and the R&D that occurs on the track.

Over on the TTXGP Matters blog, Richard says someone told him Brammo would be back with a motor that's twice as powerful as last years.  (see http://ttxgpmatters.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/brammo-is-all-in-for-2012-ttxgp-lightning-has-a-dance-partner/)  They should also finally be coming to the track with a bike that has the 6-speed transmission built in (the 2011 bike did not have the transmission).   As Richard says, the 2011 Brammo bike had the range, had the rider, had the suspension and handling, but did not have the oomph to beat Lightning or MotoCzysz.

TTXGP and UEM form partnership for electric motorcycle racing in Europe

The TTXGP and the UEM (the European Federation of the FIM) recently announced a partnership in which UEM sanctions the TTXGP activities in Europe.  TTXGP is the electric motorcycle racing series that launched in 2009 on the Isle of Man, and in 2010 and 2011 ran racing series in Europe, North America and Australia.

One issue hanging over the TTXGP has been the fight with the FIM, and the lack of sanctioning of TTXGP events.  The FIM is the sanctioning body that has positioned itself as the overlord of all motorcycle racing.  So far the TTXGP and FIM have been unable to cooperate on coordinating TTXGP's electric motorcycle racing into FIM's umbrella.  But what TTXGP has done instead is work with continent-level branches of the FIM.

TTXGP has a long-standing relationship with the AMA under which TTXGP can race at AMA events.  In the 2010 season this meant four AMA weekends also featured TTXGP racing, however in 2011 the North America schedule got all screwed up and only one of the races last year was held on an AMA weekend.  In 2012 the schedule announced yesterday only lists one AMA race weekend, and two race weekends in conjunction with a local racing club.

In Europe the TTXGP has had a long-standing relationship with the ACU, and now with the UEM.  

The AMA, the ACU and the UEM all operate under the FIM's umbrella, and oversee motorcycle racing in their country or continent.





From Press Release: http://www.egrandprix.com/news.php?id=266

UEM furthers its involvement with electric racing!
18th January 2012
TTXGP Press office

TTXGP are very please to announce a new partnership with UEM; the European Federation of the FIM, that will see the UEM have a greater stake in electric racing and nurture the next generation of motorsport throughout the European rounds of the championship.

The founder/principal of TTXGP, Mr. Azhar Hussain spoke of the partnership "we very enthusiastic to welcome such a fantastic partner in the UEM to sanction our European championship; working with such respected motorsport body as well as honoured professionals will aid TTXGP to grow and thrive and we are very much looking forward to an exciting year of racing. UEM will add stability to the calendar as well expertise and connections all of which will make TTXGP stronger."

The partnership agreement was formally approved at the Board meeting of the UEM this December. Upon signing Mr Mazzi, President of the the UEM said "We are very pleased of this agreement that pose the UEM in front of the technical innovation. Duty of the UEM is to grow our sport in Europe and this is a very important occasion to find new paths".

UEM in Europe join FIM North America union in the US as sanctioning bodies for TTXGP regional championships and grow our global family of partners. The new TTXGP Euro calendar sanctioned by the UEM will be announced shortly. All additional dates will join Assen which has agreed a historic three year deal with electric motorsport, the first venue to offer TTXGP a multiyear contract and partnership that signals the staying power of electric motorsport.

TTXGP releases North America 2012 schedule, and will run World Final in North America

It's the beginning of the new race season, and TTXGP is releasing the racing schedules for each of their series.  A couple weeks ago it was the Australian TTXGP/eFXC 2012 season, and now TTXGP has announced an exciting schedule for North America.

The 2012 North America season has four races, of which three are announced and one is labeled "TBD".  The three announced events are all in the western portion of the country, which is a nod to the fact that the majority of electric motorcycle development in America occurs on the West Coast.

What's most exciting beyond the four races of the season, is that the TTXGP World Final will be held in North America.  In the prior two years of the TTXGP the world final race was held in Europe (first, in Albacete Spain, second in Anglesey Wales) and the vast majority of TTXGP World Final participants were European teams.  This despite two full seasons in North America and one season in Australia.

I suspect that the main reason Meunch & CRP were the top teams in both TTXGP World Finals so far was because the top North America teams did not travel to Europe for the World Final.  

We should note there was only one American team traveling to the World Final, Werkstatt Racing, who attended the 2010 Final in Albacete.  Werkstatt's effort to both participate in the 2010 TTXGP season, and to attend the world final, is to be applauded, but this team was in the middle of the pack during the 2010 TTXGP North America season.  It meant the North America field was not well represented in the World Finals, and in 2011 not only did North America go unrepresented in the World Finals, so to was Australia unrepresented.

An outsider looking at this may question just how "World" the "TTXGP World Finals" are.  It seems that I'm going down a rathole here focusing on this issue, so let me say this:  What we want out of the TTXGP World Finals is for the result to truly represent the efforts of each of the three TTXGP continent-level series.

Ideally the top teams of each continent-level series goes to the TTXGP World Finals and duking it out for to win the trophy.  What we have instead is that the TTXGP World Finals is essentially the extension of the TTXGP Europe series.  By holding the 2012 TTXGP World Finals in North America we have the opportunity for the ideal World Finals only if the European and Australian teams are able to come up with the funds to make it to Daytona in October.

Now, let's turn back to the series which was announced.

In May it's the AMA Superbike weekend at Infineon again.  This will be the third year running for TTXGP to race at that venue.  It's a big event with high visibility with lots of motorcycle racing hanging out to watch the stinky noisy gas bikes race, and it's way cool that the powers that be allow time in what's a busy race weekend schedule for the electric bikes to race.

In June it's the OMRRA EV Festival at Portland International Raceway.  PIR was going to be the site of a TTXGP race in 2011, but that got canceled.  The Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association appears to be a club racing league, which may mean the weekend won't have the same high visibility as an AMA race weekend.  Looking over the OMRRA website it appears to be a rather active club series.  Their website does not mention an "EV Festival" but one supposes this will be rectified in time.

Portland, being the home town of MotoCzysz, may mean, one hopes, that MotoCzysz will participate in this TTXGP race.  Everyone, pray that this happens.  We really want to see another Lightning / MotoCzysz rematch.

The last announced race is at Miller Motorsports Park over Labor Day Weekend.  This is a club racing event featuring both AHRMA (Historical race bikes) as well as sidecar racing.

We of course do not know where the mysterious fourth event will be, there are a world of racing events occurring in July and August at which TTXGP could wangle a spot to hold races.  Of course the FIM e-Power series is expected to hold a race during the MotoGP event at Laguna Seca in late July.  It's clear that the FIM/TTXGP attempt to collaborate last year fizzled, and it's highly unlikely we'll see any joint FIM/TTXGP events this year, but it's interesting to see a schedule gap in July which opens the door for the Laguna Seca weekend to again be a joint event.

For the World Finals the Daytona International Speedway website doesn't list their events calendar this far out in the future, and we cannot tell what sort of event weekend will be hosting the TTXGP World Finals race.  This is of course a world famous racing venue, famous for some of the car races held there.


Press release from: http://www.egrandprix.com/news.php?id=268

TTXGP North America 2012 Schedule
14th February 2012
TTXGP press office

The TTXGP North America 2012 schedule has something for everyone, from major national motorcycle racing weekends to headlining an EV festival the calendar has been designed to offer a broad range appeal to multiple types of audiences in America.

TTXGP is pleased to confirm the following dates and venues for TTXGP North America 2012!

Round 1
MAY 4th - MAY 6th
Infineon Raceway

Infineon has been home to the opening round of TTXGP since inception so we are very pleased to be kicking of the season at one of the greenest tracks in the US. The West Coast Moto Jam weekend is the ultimate 2 wheel fiesta; As well as TTXGP fans will be treated to six AMA Pro Road Racing main events on the road course, Supermoto USA on the karting track and FREE Demo rides in the expanded Motorsports Midway.

Round 2
June 23rd - June 24th
Portland International Raceway
The award winning City of Portland; often been referred to as one of the most environmentally friendly or "green" cities in the world and this summer adds to these credentials when it plays host to the region's first zero carbon race series. The TTXGP race will be the highlight of an EV bonanza with displays, demos and making up the OMRRA EV Festival.

For over three decades, the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association has run safe, exciting, and competitive events for motorcycle road racers and their fans. Racers range from club level to professionals with national and international experience. The weekend will be actioned packed weekend and if you are in the Portland area it will be one not to be missed! Tickets will be available from the gate; more information to be published shortly - check back here in the next few weeks for a full line up.

Round 3
August 31st - September 2nd
Miller Motorsports Park

Returning to this prestigious track with AHRMA, TTXGP is excited to return the famous Miller Motorsports Park. Mixing the old with the new and showcasing the historic with the future; the TTXGP race will be hosted by one of the biggest associations in the world. The association has grown steadily over the years, now with over 4,000 members; the Miller round represents represents one of its largest and busiest weekends.

Miller Motorsports Park is a state-of-the-art road racing facility for automobiles, motorcycles and karts located just 35 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City in Tooele, Utah. It is considered the finest race track of its type in North America

Round 4

TBC

TTXGP WORLD FINAL 2012: October 19th - October 21st
Daytona International Raceway
For the first time in TTXGP History, we bring our World Final to the USA. Daytona International Speedway is the home to nine major weekends of racing activity, featuring everything from NASCAR to the Rolex Sports Car Series to the American Motorcyclist Association and the World Karting Association, as well as the booked for more than two solid months each year for testing and development of various race vehicles. As such offers racers and fans a world class venue and the perfect choice for the TTXGP WORLD FINAL 2012.

"The Speedway is a venue that is known throughout the world as a top-line race track - a place where everyone in motorsports wants to claim a victory," said Speedway President Joie Chitwood III.