We should begin this article with a preface. The following information is comprised of facts, and in some cases, where noted ,substantiated rumor. However, the inferences drawn, when looking at all these instances as being correlated events, are purely our own here at A&R, and should therefore be taken as fanciful speculation on our parts, but none-the-less something to mull-over while riding this weekend..
Looking at the facts leading up to the TTXGP, and the occurences at the Isle of Man, is it possible that Michael Czysz orchestrated a game plan at the Isle of Man that included sandbagging the E1pc’s true performance capability on race day? Our analysis after the jump.
At the start of the TTXGP race, MotoCzysz pulled into the paddock with something no one had ever seen before. No, that’s not a thinly veiled compliment to Michael and the MC crew for their work on the E1pc. We’re talking about the 11th battery crafted into the tail section of the 10 battery E1pc bike. A little extra juice is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Portland team, which had failed to get around the Mountain Course on Monday’s practice, and just barely crossed the finish line on Tuesday’s practice. After running out of power like that, most teams in a similar circumstance would reduce their speed along the course, and stretch their mileage out. But, MotoCzysz never did this, and in fact, did almost the exact opposite.
After failing to qualify on Monday, MotoCzysz dropped the hammer again at the launch of the second practice. Flexing its speed down the course, the E1pc looked to be one of the fastest bikes on the circuit, and possibly a worthy challenger to Team Agni.
Why would a team do this? Well, if you knew you were going to run an extra 10% or so of battery power on race day you might. Consider this shot from Amadeus Photography, which was taken during the second practice session. Clearly the tail section has been left hollow and accessible for the 11th battery pack, and even includes air vents that sit along where the batteries would be mounted.
If nothing else, leaving the tail section hollow and open like this means the 11th battery pack was a planned contingency, should MotoCzysz arrive at the Isle of Man and find itself out-classed by a competitor. In real life, this was clearly the case with Agni posting quick laps right off the bat.
The tail section is one of the things noticably absent from all the pre-race publicity photos and videos MotoCzysz has produced, leaving us the viewer with no clear formation of what the tail section would look like. Clearly the E1pc borrows its tail design from the C1 MotoGP hopeful, but yet in all of the videos of testing runs we saw (and ran on A&R, ) an abbreviated tail section is used. In the PIR testing sequence, the bike looks incomplete with a rider on the back, and no full tail section not installed. Here’s a better shot from the 120mph Dyno run.
But now, even the dyno run seems suspect. Initially, MotoCzysz tested the E1pc with the battery packs off the bike. Could this be so they could test the performance output differential between the different configurations?
Right before the E1pc was to be crated off to the Isle of Man, we stumbled onto some photos of the E1pc in its final form. Politely asked not to publish them until MC did (which we assumed was to be that day), we refrained from posting the two photos we had, thinking nothing of the issue. We were then a bit curious that when the finally unveiling came that only one of the photos was used. Our photos, which showed both sides of the motorcycle, also immediately disappeared from the Blogspot blog we found them on.
Clearly it was a leak, that was quickly plugged (although maybe not quick enough as Hell for Leather ran the story within a matter of hours), but could it have been more? Could someone have unknowingly taken a picture that tipped MC’s, and this was all damage control? Sadly, our photos were lost in what can only be described as egregious user error (empty trash can…nooo!!!), so we’ll never know what those photos could have revealed now that hindsight is 20/20. But the photos we do have show some interesting details that everyone has missed.
Looking at the above picture, we can see the full tail section installed on the E1pc, and we can also see two brackets emminating from the bottom of the tail, almost where passanger pegs would go. What could need to be mounted here? Clearly no one was planning to ride two-up on the E1pc anytime soon. Take a look again, and now scroll up to the first photo in the post. The brackets are still there, and clearly being used. Notice again in the second photo of the post, the brackets are missing. Chewy.
All of these small but connected instances make us wonder. Add into the analysis the scarcity of the MotoCzysz team from the IoM paddock. Instead of “camping” it out on the lawn with everyone else, MotoCzysz shuttled around in a box truck. The rare sight of spotting an MC team member left some people attending the races wondering if the Oregonians had even made the trek out to the island.
Without being able to just wander into the MC camp, a rumor persisted Tuesday that MotoCzysz had a second bike flown in from the United States. This seems rather far-fetched, but could that second bike have been mistaken as the E1pc swapping out its tail for the 11th bttery, in the 11th hour?
We have no way of knowing the basis for such a rumors, but let us not forget, the initial post that set the MotoCzysz TTXGP adventure off was cryptic in its delivery of Michael’s intention to switch to electric power plants.
With a nice conspiracy theory coming together, we have to ask the quesion: is Michael Czysz that devious of a dreamer to put together such a plan? Could perhaps the gambit have backfired, with a less reliable bike being produced because of the need for secrecy? Are we full of it, and clearly in need of more sleep? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Photos: Amadeus Photography
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