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Isle of Man TTXGP - Electric Motorcycle Race
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TTXGP - Isle of Man, UK
June
12, 2009 - evMotorcycle
Racing Event of the
Year
23 entries from around the world are confirmed to compete in the world’s first zero-carbon eGP at the annual
Isle of Man TT
• Seven nations to be represented at TTXGP
• 7-times TT winner Mick Grant to line up on starting grid
Official TTXGP
website - http://ttxgp.com
 April
9, 2009 – TTXGP, the world’s first zero-carbon eGP,
is delighted
to announce that 23 bikes and riders from 16 different teams and seven
different countries will compete in its inaugural race. The TTXGP is
set to take place in the Isle of Man on June 12, 2009, as part of the
traditional TT programme.
Alongside teams from the UK and the Isle of Man, there are
representatives from Italy, USA,India, Germany and Austria, making this
ground-breaking event a truly global competition.
TTXGP founder, Azhar Hussain, said, “With twenty-three confirmed
entries, we are thrilled
with the high level of interest the TTXGP has generated globally, and
the superb quality of
teams that will be involved in our first zero-carbon race.”
Entries to the race range from the US-based Mission Motors team, which
claims its electric superbike, Mission One, can reach speeds of up to
150mph, through to the Isle of Man’s own entry.
British innovation and enterprise is well represented by Rick Simpson,
Director of EVO
Design Solutions, “Our EV-0 RR and EV-0 R entries will highlight the
all British design and
manufacture aspect of our race team. The motor, chassis and control
systems used by the EVO Design Solutions team are all developed and
built in the UK.”
A number of the UK’s top universities and colleges are getting
involved. Brunel University,
Kingston University and Imperial College London are all developing
electric race bikes and
hope to provide some serious competition to the more commercial US
teams. Together with Mission Motors, commercial US teams include
MotoCzysz, Barefoot Motors
and Brammo, makers of the Enertia electric bike.
The list of riders taking part in the TTXGP includes seven-times winner
of the Isle of Man TT, Mick Grant; Olie Linsdell, winner of the 2007
Northwest 200 400cc race,
beating John
McGuiness's lap record in the process; Tom Montano, who has previously
raced the fastest MV Agusta in the history of the Isle of Man TT races;
Dan Kneen, who
made history in the 2008 Manx Grand Prix by being the first person ever
to win three races
in a week; Paul Owen, one of the stars of the PlayStation2 game ‘TT
Superbikes Real
Road Racing Championship’; and Maria Costello, Guinness World Record
holder for
fastest female lap of the TT circuit.
Other riders of note include Thomas Schoenfelder, Roy Richardson, Rob
Barber, Chris
Petty, David Madsen-Mygdal, Martin Loicht, Antonio Maeso, Garth Woods,
Chris Heath,
Marie Hodgson, Steve Harper, Alessio Corradi, Steve Macdonald, Mark
Miller, Alan Connor, and Chris Palmer.
Local Isle of Man interest will be represented by the ManTTx team,
which will be thinking
about more than just the environment when they roll up to the line on
June 12, 2009.
ManTTx team leader, Keith McKay, said, “We're not in this just to save
the planet. We're in this to put a winning motorcycle under a winning
rider and win the
race.”
Azhar added, “Among the competitors are past TT winners and a number of
seasoned motor cycle racing pros, all of whom are excited by the
challenges and
prospect of racing clean machines.”
In terms of technology, the use of lithium-ion batteries is a common
theme running through many of the teams’ bike entries, but that’s where
the similarity ends.
Some teams have incorporated the use of regenerative braking, another
first in racing
terms, while others, such as Imperial College London, are using a fully
recyclable composite
material for the body work of its bike.
The IET is the official technical advisor to TTXGP. The panel is made
up of leading experts from the academic and commercial sectors, many of
them members of the
IET global automotive and road transport systems technical panel.
Mary Donovan, IET Head of Communications, said, “The technology and
innovation we are going to see at the TTXGP is a catalyst for
converting all those who
care about the world to wake up and realise that technology is the
vehicle by which we can
achieve the changes we so desperately need.
“With twenty-three entrants going head-to-head in a bid to prove who
has developed the
greatest clean-emission race machine, nowhere will the products of
competitive innovation be more apparent than in the 2009 TTXGP. It’s
going to be a great
motivator for budding engineers and will go a long way to prove that
there is real
excitement, energy and value in the fields of engineering, technology
and science. Let the race begin!”
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