When Greg Tracy isn’t flipping cars for Hot Wheels, or busy on a Hollywood set doing stunts for filmmakers, you can find him racing to the clouds on two wheels and dominating the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. A six-time winner at Pikes Peak, Tracy can attribute more than a few of those wins to his time on the mountain with the Spider Grips Ducati team. But for 2013, Tracy will take on a new venture and race an electric bike with Canada’s Amarok Racing.
The announcement is a surprising one, considering that the last we heard from Greg, he was leaning towards a four-wheeled excursion up the mountain, if even competing at all. With high-altitude courses like Pikes Peak playing to the advantages of an electric motorcycle though, and Tracy’s formidable knowledge of the course’s now-paved 156 turns, the Amarok entry has the potential to top Chip Yates’s mark as the fastest electric motorcycle up Pikes Peak.
“It is truly exciting to be racing with Amarok,” said Tracy. “After talking with Amarok co-founder Michael Uhlarik, I knew this was a team of innovators who have pushed the limit building an electric motorcycle that I believe can set a record at Pikes Peak. I have been honoured to race for the best factory team, for Ducati, and honestly I had planned that my next Pikes Peak pursuit would be in an enclosed vehicle.”
“I have always been intrigued by the Makers Movement and how alternative energy will impact my life and ultimately, my children’s lives,” he added. “We need to be aware of the guys who are representatives of where our futures lie. Pikes Peak has always been about pushing the limit, showcasing new technologies with the best racers against the most extreme environment. When you combine all of our passion for the race, new technology with a couple of guys building one of the most interesting electric motorcycles in 140 year old barn…well, I knew I just wanted to be part of this program.”
The Amarok P1A is the brainchild of Michael Uhlarik and Kevin O’Neil, and is an electric race motorcycle that features two Agni motors, an aluminum monocoque design, and a ready-to-race weight of 325 lbs. The Amarok Racing team hopes that the P1A’s light weight will enable it to out-handle its more powerful, though cumbersome, competitors.
However, it remains to be seen whether that philosophy will be a benefit or a hinderance with Pike Peak’s variable terrain, and there is of course the fact that the Amarok P1A is a relatively unproven machine so far in the electric motorcycle racing world. Knowing Greg though, he’ll ride at 10/1oths until the bike stops or he is at the top of the mountain eating a victory donut. We wish him and the Amarok crew the best of luck in embarrassing a few of the petrol-heads at the event.
Source: Amarok
Comments