The Swigz Racing all-electric superbike has made history in its global racing debut, powering to two podium spots in two races at the Auto Club Speedway in California last weekend.
Despite only six laps of pre-race testing from Saturday’s practice session and a cold and overcast day, the privately owned and developed machine managed to live up to its promise to match gasoline-powered bike lap times on Sunday.
Swigz Racing owner and bike rider Chip Yates achieved third place in the premier WERA Heavyweight Twins Superbike race, having started on the third row of the grid, and unbelievably went one better in the WERA Heavyweight Twins Superstock race to finish second and post the fastest lap of the race at a 1:39.792. The bike was recorded at 254 kph on the straight.
“This was an absolutely epic race weekend for our team; we had to overcome some technical difficulties on Saturday but we fixed everything and came back Sunday to score two podiums, a huge top speed, and post competitive gasoline bike lap times with no further technical issues to slow us down,” Yates said.
“We are a small and entirely self-funded team, and together with a small group of very loyal sponsors, are solely responsible for the development, patenting and building of this superbike. What a humbling experience for our small team to develop and build a machine that can beat gasoline bikes from the top manufacturers on their own terms – I was nearly brought to tears as I crossed the finish line both times!”
No more calling an electric bike a wuss, at least not this one.
wow.. the future is today.. with less sound of adrenaline..hahaha..
in the moto gp the creaming sound of the combustion engine is big part of the excitement in the race. without it i think the race will be boring….
but the torque will bring back those powersliding God’s style back to Motogp…..now motogp dominated by the emphasis on corner speed 250s like style, effective but not entertaining(thats why ppl love drift racing) …..
here to rubber burning out of corner Doohan/Rainey/Shwantz style!..sideway side by side out of corner …albeit it will be in silence ler ; ) …thats weird
Fantastic!
take that oil company!!!
this is a great milestone. Bravo!
Well, the torque should be awesome. Imagine coming out from corners like Speedy Gonzales. Hehehe.
wow….it’s kinda weird.haha..
and the it sounds freaky..riders in front may feel nervous hearing that jet sound..hehe
haha… 1st time see a race bikehv no “sound”… som when he over take others… will they hear him coming?
In future electric racing bikes need to create an artificial howling sound to prevent a ‘quite and boring’ race. Environmentalist will be celebrating this day!
the straight line speed and pick up is epic….thats where he gets them all the time….lol….
Can you imagine if rossi was on one of those..?!
wow, max torque from any rev range, it will be fantastic to power out of curves and straight lines.
and the whirring sounds like a jet or cannon ready to blast off.
nice.
looking at the vid, the torque is insane……!
They should put cards on the wheel spokes to make noise. :-P
on road, electric cars/bikes should have some noise for pedestrian safety.
i wont mind to get one as track bike…