Hey, I am at the Infineon track for the inaugural race of the 2010 TTXGP. FYI I have a press pass and photo flag which will let me go anywhere (almost) on the track ...
The schedule is - two practices today, two rounds of qualifying races tomorrow, and then an 11 lap race on Sunday. This is way more than I had thought but on the other hand the gas bikes will be doing 18 or 22 laps. The TTXGP race will be in the morning and the other races in the afternoon.
Anyway, things are more in the process of "setting up" today. A few minutes ago I talked with a team from Ohio who'd just arrived. Seems they had attended the TTXGP event last summer in Ohio, their background is with gas bikes (specifically vintage gas bikes), and they saw the TTXGP booth, thought "we can do that", and here they are.
Here's a couple pictures ...
Zero Motorcycles has a big presence - a big work trailer and the lady said they have over 20 bikes on site. This one is a Mavizen frame but with their own battery pack and drive train.
Volt Motorcycles - they said they're working in the same incubator facility in Sebastapol where Thunderstruck Motors is located.
is that an Agni motor on the zero?
did the guy with the Norton with the dustbin faring show up?
I couldn't make it to race post lots specs and photos Please
so the race is the AC motors versus PM motors?
Marc, Fresno,CA where the Sierra Nevada Mountains are hidden (smog)
Zero has two bikes. One is the bike Team Agni built last year, which they've modifies further. The other is a Zero DS with some race modifications. Both are PM motors.
There are a lot of PM bikes present. Of the bikes in practice the best have been the Zero bikes. Some of the others have done good but not as well as the Zero Agni bike, and part of that is the rider who's a big name pro racer. One team came up with their own take on the dual Agni face-face mounting arrangement and they're talking about making that into a conversion kit.
There are only a few AC bikes the top of them is Richard Hatfields yellow bike, the one which went to Bonneville. It's rather special as it has an honest to goodness EV1 motor on board. Anyway it was way way impressive on the track, until the DCDC converter broke and the rider had to push the bike to the pits. When I left last night at 8 they were tearing the bike down to install new forks and had already fixed the DCDC.
The consensus is that the bikes to beat are from zero and lightning motorcycles (Richards bike).
At least one other bike is expected to arrive today. This is Bob Schneeviess's bike, you may remember he had it at last years EV Rally. You and i spent quite awhile studying the design, its truly a marvel He's supposed to show up in the afternoon. He had that bike at a flat track race I covered a couple months ago, and it did real well.
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki