The electric sportbike season is rapidly approaching us, and the first event is the FIM’s e-Power Championship race at Le Mans. With six bikes and five teams on the entry list, the race will be sparse with entrants and could see the field shrink further if rumors are right that suggest one bike might be jumping ship to the Italian TTXGP series. Despite all this, the FIM’s first race has a great venue. Set to take place April 16th, the e-Power Championship launches just ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans World Endurance Championship race in Sarthe, France.
The small entry grid, a noticeable talking point for TTXGP proponents, doesn’t really surprise us too much here as Asphalt & Rubber though. With the majority of electric motorcycle development coming from the UK and USA, it’s the races at these countries where we really expect not only to see the most entrants, but also the most competitive entries (FIM just recently seems to have figured this out by canceling its Assen round for a round pigged-back on MotoGP’s stop at Laguna Seca).
Bearing this in mind, we expect to see teams cherry-pick races from both the TTXGP and FIM series to suit not only locale, but also sourcing out the races where the best competition may (or may not) be (like TT Zero for instance). With many “exclusivity” contracts more of a verbal commitment than legally binding, there also remains the possiblility that we’ll see shifts mid-season on where teams choose to go ride. Although the power plants may be more quiet than their gasoline powered brethren, electric sport bike racing seems to have all the politics and noise found in conventional racing.
FIM e-Power Championship Entry List for Le Mans:
No. | Rider | Nation | Team | Machine |
17 | Christian Amendt | Germany | EPO-bike.de | Honda |
22 | Thijs De Ridder | Belgium | Crystalyte-Europe.com | DR Motors |
38 | Luciano Betti | Italy | Betti Moto | Betti Moto |
48 | Reiner Kopp | USA | Munch Racing | Laverda |
61 | Harald Gasse | Germany | Peace-E-Rider | Innoscooter |
115 | Thomas Betti | Italy | Betti Moto | Betti Moto |
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