Opening of the TTXGP 2012 at Portland International Raceway

The TTXGP has finally come to Portland Oregon, one of the hotbeds of electric motorcycle and electric vehicles in general.  The series had been slated to come to PIR last year, but something happened (I never bothered to find out what) and it didn't happen.  This year the series is on the track alongside club racing with the OMRRA.  In addition to the TTXGP appearance is the EV LIVE event, a showing of electric vehicles, solar electric systems, and other green technology.

The primary word to describe the weekend so far is WET.  Earlier in the day it was raining hard, and the morning practice round was held on a wet track.  Only the VA Tech and Zero teams went out however.

VA Tech team

Present are:

• MotoCzysz: Two bikes, direct from the Isle of Man.  Their bikes arrived from the Island just yesterday.
• VA Tech (7.5kwh Award): One bike, it's their first appearance in any TTXGP
• Zero (eSuperStock Award): As in the Infineon round, Zero is sponsoring four bikes, and racing for the eSuperStock award.
• Brammo: One bike, and to those of us who wanted to know of Steve Atlas's condition after his wreck at Infineon, he is here, and planning to race.  
• Proto Moto (7.5 KWH Award): Ely Schless, he raced last year and this is his first TTXGP race this year.

This is the VA Tech bike.  This is a student run team, that is in its second year of existence, but is in its first year of actually racing.  One of the primary sponsors is Kollmorgen, an electric motor and controller manufacturer.  Their bike is in the 7.5 KWH award group, but is faster than the Zero bikes by a decent amount.

Here's the Brammo Empulse RR, ready to race.

Here's some views of the two MotoCzysz E1PC bikes, fresh from the Isle of Man.  It's even more interesting in person.

Under the seat are a pair of wings, and on the front fairing is another pair of wings, and the tail section has a bit of an opening, all signs of working with the design to make it slip through the air more smoothly.

Team members explained to me the main difference between the 2011 E1PC and 2012 is the fairing design.  The motor and frame was the same, the batteries more-or-less the same, but what made the difference with this years Isle of Man is the fairing design.

One of the little details is the "<22:38.28" on the front fender - that's the lap time they needed to beat, to break the ton at the Isle of Man.

Audi in historic first Hybrid Race Car win at 24 Hours of Le Mans

At the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, Audi made a historic achievement with the first hybrid cars to win that race.  While the title of this site is Electric Race News, we'll mark this achievement under the rubric of "Electrified Vehicle Racing" because it was an electrified vehicle which won the race.

The vehicle in question was four Audi R18 e-ton Quattro's.  With this car Audi Sport Team Joest took 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th places in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.

Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Marcel Fassler (CH), Andre Lotterer (D), Benoit Treluyer (F)

“By achieving this further success at the world’s most important endurance race our engineers demonstrated their high technological expertise in a particularly impressive way,” commented Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, who personally watched the race on location. “With the e-tron quattro in combination with ultra lightweight design, we put a completely new technology on the grid and immediately won with it – this cannot be taken for granted by any means, particularly here at Le Mans. This weekend again showed the type of things that can happen in this race and how important perfect preparation is.”

The winning group, consisted of drivers Marcel Fässler (CH), André Lotterer (D) and Benoît Tréluyer (F), who were also the winners of the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Audi describes the drive train as the "all-wheel drive of the future in which the conventional drive system is intelligently combined with an electrically driven axle." Audi is already testing this technology in which the drive shaft is replaced by electric cables for use in production vehicles. Operating at the rear of all four Audi R18 cars was the latest evolution of the compact V6 TDI engine with VTG mono turbocharger that was used at Le Mans for the first time in 2011. The new ultra-light transmission with a carbon fiber housing – a novelty in a Le Mans sports car – held up to the Le Mans endurance test covering a distance of 5.151 kilometers in all four vehicles without any problems as well. Like quatto all-wheel drive, ultra-lightweight design is a core competency of the company.

In addition to this marking the first time a hybrid car has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was also the first time a hybrid car took the pole position to open the race. André Lotterer in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro designated as car number “1” to achieve a fastest lap of 3m 23.787s in the final qualifying session on Thursday night shortly after 22:00 – and thus an improvement of last year’s best time by nearly two seconds. André Lotterer in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro designated as car number “1” to achieve a fastest lap of 3m 23.787s in the final qualifying session on Thursday night shortly after 22:00 – and thus an improvement of last year’s best time by nearly two seconds.

Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen in the number “2” Audi R18 e-tron quattro set the fourth-fastest lap (3m 25.433s) behind the quickest hybrid vehicle from Toyota. Le Mans rookie Marco Bonanomi in the number “4” Audi R18 ultra took grid position six (3m 26.420 s. This meant that all four vehicles fielded by Audi Sport Team Joest qualified for the three front rows.

Audi is fielding two varieties of the Audi R18 in this years FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC); the R18 ultra and the R18 e-tron quattro. This first diesel hybrid race car at Le Mans fundamentally differs from the conventionally powered model in some respects. The e-tron quattro, for example, has an electrically driven front axle in addition to the conventional rear-wheel drive, a motor generator unit (MGU) on the front axle, a rotating mass storage device, an additional cooling system and new detailed solutions.

"This makes it all the more surprising that our engineers have implemented a principle featuring a high level of carry-over parts,” emphasizes Dr. Ullrich in praise of his team’s achievements. "The R18 ultra is the basis that has made it possible to make the R18 e-tron quattro reality in the first place. We would have had no chance if we hadn’t achieved the weight saving between our 2011 Le Mans winner, the R18 TDI, and the current R18 ultra because we had to additionally package the entire hybrid system in the vehicle. And in spite of this, we continued to pursue the aim of staying below the minimum weight of 900 kg in order to have some latitude to balance the car with ballast.”

Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Marcel Fassler (CH), Andre Lotterer (D), Benoit Treluyer (F)

Start with leading Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Marcel Fassler (CH), Andre Lotterer (D), Benoit Treluyer (F)

Audi R18 ultra #3 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Romain Dumas (F), Loïc Duval (F), Marc Gene (E)

Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Marcel Fassler (CH), Andre Lotterer (D), Benoit Treluyer (F)

Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Marcel Fassler (CH), Andre Lotterer (D), Benoit Treluyer (F)

Technical data Audi R18 e-tron quattro / ultra (2012)

Version: February 2012

Model Vehicle	Audi R18 e-tron quattro / ultra (2012)
Vehicle type	Le Mans Prototype (LMP1)
Monocoque	Carbon-fiber composite with aluminum honeycomb, tested according to the strict FIA crash and safety standards
Battery	Lithium ion batteries
Engine	Turbocharged 120° V6, 4 valves per cylinder, DOHC, 1 Garrett turbocharger, mandatory intake air restrictor of 1 x 45.8 mm diameter and turbo boost pressure limited to 2.8 bar absolute, diesel direct injection TDI Fully stressed aluminum cylinder block, diesel particle filter
Engine management	Bosch MS24
Engine lubrication	Dry sump, Castrol
Displacement	3,700 cc
Power Over	375 kW / 510 hp
Torque Over	850 Nm
Hybrid system*
Type of accumulator	Electric flywheel accumulator, max 500 KJ, WHP
Motor Generator Unit (MGU)	MGU on the front axle, water cooled with integrated power electronics, 2 x 75 kW
Drive / transmission
Type of drive	Rear wheel drive, traction control (ASR), four-wheel drive e-tron quattro from 120 km/h*
Clutch Carbon clutch	Gearbox Sequential, electrically activated 6-speed racing gearbox
Differential	Limited-slip rear differential
Gearbox housing	Carbon-fiber composite with titanium inserts
Driveshafts	Constant velocity sliding tripod universal joints
Suspension / steering / brakes
Steering	Electrical assisted rack and pinion steering
Suspension	Front and rear double wishbone independent suspension, front pushrod system and rear pull rod system with adjustable dampers
Brakes	Hydraulic dual circuit brake system, mono bloc light alloy brake calipers, ventilated carbon disc brakes front and rear, infinitely manually adjustable front and rear brake balance
Wheels	O.Z. magnesium forged wheels
Tires	Michelin Radial, Front: 360/710-18, rear: 370/710-18
Weight / dimensions
Length	4,650 mm
Width	2,000 mm
Height	1,030 mm
Minimum	weight 900 kg
Fuel	tank capacity 58*/60 liters
*Different specification for R18 e-tron quattro

Matthias Himmelmann Munch Motorbikes Falkenbergs Motorbana TTXGP European Championship 2012 - filmed by @egrandprix

Matthias Himmelmann rides the number 49 Munch Racing Motorcycle during practice for the opening round of the TTXGP European Championship 2012, at Falkenbergs Motorbana in Sweden. Thanks to Munch for the speed & lap data and video.

Munch are making this bike and others available for individuals or companies to rent and test ride at TTXGP races this year. Contact www.muenchmotorbikes.com for more information

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

Interview with Mugen Europe's Colin Whittamore at 2012 TT ZERO - filmed by @pinkyracer

2012 SES TT Zero Awards Ceremony - filmed by @pinkyracer

The podium finishers accept their awards and have a few words to say about racing electric bikes. They each got awards for breaking the ton as well as for where they finished.

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?