liam
1970 cb350/1980 xs250/2004 klx400/BMW E30 323I
anyone following this? it's pretty cool. groundbreaking stuff really.
24 entries confirmed, some with some serious factory backing by companies hoping to get some exposure and create new markets. I tend not to be to interested in normal races, but this is kinda like the races which were happening 100 years ago, unproven technology, privateers on equal footing with factories, wild risks, it's all wide open.
from hell for leather
Brammo Enertia TTR,
Mission One
Ev-O RR
Motozysz E1
24 entries confirmed, some with some serious factory backing by companies hoping to get some exposure and create new markets. I tend not to be to interested in normal races, but this is kinda like the races which were happening 100 years ago, unproven technology, privateers on equal footing with factories, wild risks, it's all wide open.
from hell for leather
the bikes to watch at the moment are:The 2009 Isle of Man TT will host the world’s first clean emissions Grand Prix. Dubbed the Time Trials Xtreme (ick – ed.) Grand Prix by its creator, Azhar Hussain, it will be an open-formula series of races around the Isle of Man Mountain Course with only one rule: no harmful emissions. It’s that lack of restrictions and the trial-and-error innovation that it will bring that makes the TTxGP really interesting; next June we could see the future of green transportation racing alongside the fastest factory superbikes.
The racing will take place in three classes around one lap of the 37.7-mile (66,410 yards) course:
- Pro Class: for the fastest bikes with corporate backing.
- Open Class: intended to attract universities and similar teams, the bikes will have to be built with a not-yet-determined budget.
- Free Class: an exhibition for emerging technologies, this will give garage inventors and amateurs a chance to showcase their abilities, for free.
By now you’ve probably noticed all the hedging around the issue of pollution. While TTxGP’s rules call for “clean emissions” they don’t look at the energy or pollution cost of the R&D, manufacturing or the energy needed to lap the course (i.e. racers will be able to juice up their batteries with sweet, sweet coal-fired electricity if they’d like). The language is intended to be vague, allowing for a variety of propulsion methods to be used.
Azhar is hoping that creative freedom will fuel innovation that eventually trickles down to road-legal production bikes, saying, “F1 has already set the model. ABS, sequential gear boxed, Fuel injection, paddle sticks…are among the many hundreds of both radical and incremental technology that has found its way from the racetrack to the public road. Competition represents an advanced form of rapid prototyping. The extreme conditions driven by the absolute need for performance and reliability has proven to be a superb development. The vision is that the TTxGP will similarly become synonymous with clean tech that we all be using in years to come.”
As the race draws closer and participants confirm their entries, it’s expected that more rules and details will be determined. TTxGP hopes to become an annual fixture at the TT. If things go to plan, it could one day become the main attraction.
Brammo Enertia TTR,
Mission One
Ev-O RR
Motozysz E1