Brammo with Steve Rapp riding crashes in TTXGP qualifying at Infineon

In todays qualifying round for the 2012 TTXGP race at Infineon, Steve Rapp was riding for Team Icon Brammo in place of the teams regular rider, Steve Atlas, after he was taken out due to a crash yesterday. The team had spent all night rebuilding the bike, arriving just in time for the qualifying race. To replace Atlas, Rapp volunteered. He is a highly experienced rider who knows Infineon Raceway very well, and has ridden for Mission Motors before. However Rapp had never seen the Brammo Empulse RR before and was coming to it fresh.

During the qualifying race he didn't seen to have completed an entire lap at full speed. In one lap he pulled over to the pit wall to confer with team members. It was this lap in which he wrecked.

The wreck occurred in lap 7, just before the turn. This is a sharp hairpin turn and is where Atlas crashed yesterday.

At this point we haven't heard a clear accounting of what happened and other riders didn't observe it happening. One rider said it looked like Rapp's bike went into the corner too tight. However that corner is a right hander, and all the damage to the bike is on the left side.

Brian Wisman said it definitely was not rider error. There was cooling fluid on the rear tire which is believed to have been a factor. Wisman expressed his most sincere apology to the other teams for which Atlas and Rapp were riding.

Word from the medical center is that Rapp broke his wrist, and is otherwise in good spirits.

Brammo is back in the 2012 TTXGP Infineon

It is 4:30 pm and the TTXGP qualifying race is at 5:30. It was looking dicey whether Brammo would be able get into the race considering the damage. Lo and behold, Brammo just pulled in with a fully rebuilt bike and the team is quickly getting set up.

Of course Steve Atlas is out for the count. According to Brian Wisman, Steve Rapp will be riding.

A quick perusal of the bike and everything looks shipshape. They were even able to replace the fairing.

Saturday morning practice round results at the 2012 TTXGP at Infineon

This morning saw a practice round in the 2012 TTXGP electric motorcycle race at Infineon.  Participating were two bikes from Lightning Motorcycles, and the four bikes from Zero Motorcycles.  The Lightning Motorcycles bikes were nearly knocked out yesterday after a failure in the chain tensioner caused Michael Barnes' bike to stop cold during yesterday's practice round.  Team Icon Brammo was not in the race due to yesterday's accident that badly damaged the Empulse RR and sent rider Steve Atlas to the hospital.

Today the bikes all looked excellent, and it was as if there were two races occurring at the same time.  This is to be expected because the four Zero bikes are completely outgunned by the Lightning bikes.

In race#1 we had the two Lightning bikes going flat out.  One of the riders (probably Michael Barnes) was hitting the throttle harder than the other, as I saw it popping wheelies in the front straight, and catching air several times coming over a little rise in the S curves.  The results sheet does not show timing for Michael Barnes (transponder was probably not responding).  Tim Hunt riding Lightning #89 turned in a best lap time of 1:58.358, which is pretty disappointing for a bike this powerful, but he is new to the Lightning Team.

In race#2 was the four Zero Motorcycles bikes.  These are minimally modified Zero S's racing as an experiment in what might be a "spec class" for the TTXGP.  This weekend they are racing for an award named eSuperStock.  Throughout the practice round the Zero bikes were divided in two pairs competing with each other, at largely the same speed and finishing within 5 seconds of each other.  Martin Szwarc riding #5 came in 2nd, best lap time 2:13.777; Jason Lauritzen #7 came in 3rd, best lap time 2:14.385; Kenyon Kluge #619, came in 4th, best lap time 2:15.572; Jennifer Lauritzen #96 came in 5th, best lap time 2:19.144.

Time after time throughout the race one of the Lightning bikes would pass one or more of the Zero bikes as if they were standing still.  The Zero S is geared with a maximum speed of 88 miles/hr while last years Lightning bike set the electric motorcycle land speed record of 215 miles/hr.  It is completely unsurprising that Zero bikes are being passed so commandingly by Lightning's bikes.

Update on Brammo's presence at 2012 TTXGP at Infineon

During yesterday's practice round at the 2012 TTXGP race at Infineon Raceway, Steve Atlas riding for Team Icon Brammo wrecked (a high side in turn 7), and was brought to the hospital, taking the Brammo Empulse RR out of the race.  The accident occurred just after Atlas exited the corner.  Other riders reported the bike tumbled a few times ending up in the grass, while Atlas landed in the track.

Team Icon Brammo officials have confirmed that Steve Atlas fractured six thoracic vertebrae, and was sent from the hospital to rest in his hotel room.  He can't be too bad off if the doctors sent him home, but in no way is broken vertebrae anything to sneeze at.  We wish Steve the best recovery possible.  The estimate is he will be out for 6 weeks or so.

The Empulse RR had its own version of "going to the hospital" in that the Team Icon Brammo team members packed up their paddock area, and went to a nearby workshop.  The damage to the bike consisted of a destroyed fairing, a scraped up handlebar, and a heavily damaged motor.  It is the motor damage that will be the most difficult for the team to repair, as it damaged the encoder disc and the water cooling system.  The team intends to repair the bike and get back into the race, with a replacement rider yet to be identified.

As of this writing at 3PM Brammo is still away from the track, and the qualifying race is due to occur at 5:30PM (more likely 6PM) this evening.  In the past, teams who were unable to race in the qualifying round would be gridded on the rear row of the starting field during the actual race.

The power of 200 ft-lbs of torque on Lightning Motorcycles' TTXGP race bike

It's the opening weekend of the 2012 TTXGP North America electric motorcycle race series.  One bit of excitement in yesterday's practice round was when the #80 Lightning Motorcycles bike, ridden by Michael Barnes, suddenly pulled off to the side of the track.  The cause was both extremely mundane, and testament to the massive power put out by their electric race bike.

Lightniing Motorcycles team owner Richard Hatfield explained to me the 200 ft-lbs of torque put out by their drive train simply STRETCHED the bolts holding on the chain tensioner.  The chain tensioner is a little gizmo in the swing arm to adjust the rear wheel and chain tension.  The power of the motor pulled on the rear wheel so strong, that it stretched the tensioner bolt on one bike, and on the other bike the bolt broke.

The Empulse TTX plan still on track for the 2013 TTXGP season

In a preview to this weekend's TTXGP race the Infineon Raceway staff sent out an interview with Brammo looking forward to this weekends TTXGP 2012 Season opening race.  Buried among the chatter about the bikes, Brian Wisman was asked about the Empulse TTX which had been announced last summer.  In the announcements over the upcoming Empulse R unveiling, mention of the Empulse TTX was missing, leading one to wonder if that had fallen by the wayside.

Happy were we to see this buried in the interview:-

You announced last year the fact you were going into partnership with TTXGP to produce a race-ready bike for future teams; the Empulse TTX. How have these plans progressed, and when can future racers take possession of one?  BW: The Empulse TTX will be based on our production Empulse and Empulse R platform which will be launched to the public on May 8. The bike has been developed with the goal of having a solid platform upon which a privateer or professional race team can cost-effectively build a contender for the TTXGP series. We will begin testing this summer and it seems likely that an interested racer could take possession in early 2013.

And this as well:-

Brammo is a leader in the electric vehicle industry and has a team that has raced with TTXGP since 2009. How do you see these technologies developing and what on-track improvements can we expect in the next five-10 years?  BW: Even having been involved from the initial “drop of the flag,” we have been very impressed with the pace of development in the electric motorcycle space on all sides of technology. For the near future, I think we can expect to see the power levels continuing to climb to the near 200hp level and the bike weights continue to drop well into the sub-450 pound range. Of course, this level of motor performance will be useless without the battery power and endurance needed to make use of it, so we can expect improvements to specific power and capacity as well. At the moment, the bikes are circulating around the tracks on pace with a well-sorted SuperSport class race bike, but I think it will not be long before they are competitive with the professional SuperBikes.

To remind us of the intention for the Empulse TTX.  It is slated for availability during the 2013 season.  Brammo and TTXGP's partnership bundles with an Empulse TTX purchase the entry fees for a team to participate in all races in a continent-level TTXGP series.

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.

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