FIM Releases 2012 e-Power Championship Calendar

The FIM has released its 2012 calendar for the e-Power Championship, the motorcycle racing authority’s electric racing series. Disappointingly, though perhaps not surprising, the five-stop schedule is very Euro-centric, with only the Laguna Seca breaking the e-Power Championship out of the Europe. Similar to last year, e-Power will piggyback off other FIM events, and will share its race weekends with the FIM Endurance World Championship, FIM Sidecar World Championship, and MotoGP.

Finding a way to justify double-dipping in France, at the start and end of the series, there was hope that the FIM would bring more events to the US for 2012, especially considering how many potent projects are underway in the United States, especially on the west coast. With two MotoGP opportunities and one World Superbike stop in 2012, it is a shame that the FIM did not add another event at either Indianapolis or Miller Motorsports Park for the e-Power Championship.

While each of those tracks has its own unique challenges (one could even say that Laguna Seca is too rigorous of a course for electric motorcycles), the value of bringing more electric motorcycle races to premier events and venues in the United States is paramount to the fledgling sport’s success. If there is one thing we have learned from last year’s TTXGP calendar, it is that there needs to be a considerable justification in exposure and prestige in order to make trekking around the globe a worthwhile endeavor for these small-budget racing efforts. Racing series that choose to ignore this fact, do so at their peril.

2012 FIM e-Power Championship Calendar:

Source: FIM
First Photo: © 2011 Scott Jones / Mission Motors – All Rights Reserved
Second Photo: © 2011 Jensen Beeler / Asphalt & Rubber – Creative Commons – Attribution 3.0