Mission Motors rider Steve Rapp led from start to finish to win the Laguna Seca round of the TTXGP and FIM e-Power championships. The race was significant both because it demonstrated the improvements made in electric motorcycle racing over the last year, but also because it was the first joint event held by the two rival electric racing series.
A veteran AMA racer, Rapp took the holeshot and held off 2010 Laguna Seca e-Power winner Michael Czysz and 2010 runner-up Michael Barnes for the win, completing the 8-lap race in 12:40.597, translating to lap times of about 1:35.1.
Rapp’s result showed the advances made in electric motorcycle racing over the last year. Czysz won last year’s 9-lap race in 16:02.596, which translates to an average lap time of about 1:47.0. Rapp’s fastest lap time in this year’s race was 1:33.194, obliterating Czysz record of 1:44.496 set last year.
Czysz was also able to improve upon his previous lap times, averaging about 1:40.1 on his MotoCzysz E1pc, but still finished about 30 seconds behind Rapp. Czysz beat Barnes with a dramatic pass on the final stretch, crossing the finish line just 0.233 seconds ahead of Barnes’ Lightning motorcycle.
In another dramatic finish, Brammo Empulse RR rider Steve Atlas crossed the finish just 0.356 seconds ahead of Alessandro Brannetti on the eCRP 1.4.
The race featured 11 riders, with just one DNF. Four other riders were lapped. The 11-rider field was a big improvement on the TTXGP North American series’ previous round in May at Infineon Raceway which only had four entries and just three finishers.
[Source: FIM]
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2010 FIM e-Power race at Laguna Seca
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