Electric is about to kick arse in the best racing known to man.
Making its debut at the 2012 Isle of Man TT, the 2012 MotoCzysz E1pc was unveiled today, ahead of the first TT Zero practice session on Saturday. Campaigned again by the Segway MotoCzysz Racing Team, the 2012 MotoCzysz E1pc is based heavily off its 2011 counterpart, but with obvious aerodynamic changes, as well as subtle system improvements. Boasting 200+ peak horsepower and 14kWh of battery pack, the new MotoCzysz E1pc tips the scales at 525 lbs — a full 45 lbs lighter than its main competitor, the Mugen Shinden.
Defending his #1 plate, Michael Rutter returns to Team Segway MotoCzysz, as well as American Mark Miller, who has been with the squad since its first TT race four years ago. Unlike last year, both riders will be on the same spec race bike, as MotoCzysz is racing to be the first team to crack the 100 mph average lap speed barrier. The Isle of Man government has put up £10,000 to the first rider to crack the 100 mph mark, which nearly went to Rutter in the 2011 SES TT Zero race.
Noticeably apparent on the 2012 MotoCzysz E1pc are the aerodynamic fins and ducts, which the team has developed through the use of Solidworks, and hopes will help make the Ep1c slip through the air on the Mountain Course with ease. Since wind resistance is a square-function when velocity doubles, MotoCzysz has placed a high priority on aerodynamics for the 2012 season.
“We had to look for the areas that would be easiest for us to go faster,” explained MotoCzysz CEO and Team Principal Michael Czysz. “We’ve done a pretty good job of elevating the drive system, the chassis,and the suspension. So we could go back and attack those things again, or we could work on the aerodynamics, which we’ve never really touched. We did little hints, and we tried little bits last year, but we really never studied it — we’ve just always had bigger problems to deal with first.”
Making refinements to the 2011 design, MotoCzysz returns with its under-tank suspension design, which uses two shocks with forward and aft linkages to facilitate the front forks and swingarm suspension duties. Other improvements have been made to the bike’s electric drivetrain, which include increased efficiencies, more accessible packaging, and better mass-centralization.
“We’ve done a lot of what we call connectivities and interconnections…they are all small changes, and that’s what happens. Look at it this way: let’s say we do 100, 102, or 104 mph this year. It is going to be hard to add another 5 mph next year, and another 5 mph the year after that. It gets more difficult obviously, and it’s the same thing we’re talking about with these components. It was easy the first couple of years to make big adjustments, but there weren’t those big obvious ones to make this year, just lots of little ones.”
“Physically the battery pack is slightly bigger, but that’s because we have changed some dimensions for other dimensions. We don’t have air flowing through it this year, so we’ve had to make up that cross-sectional area. We’ve also done a much better job of cooling our batteries, which has meant doing some thermal stuff inside the batteries.”
Though the 2012 MotoCzysz E1pc has been tested prior to its arrival on the Isle, tomorrow’s practice is the first chance Rutter and Miller will have to swing a leg over the machine. Talking to Michael Czysz about the TT fortnight, he said biggest hurdle will be setting up the bikes to each rider’s specifications in only two mountain passes. Helping the two Segway MotoCzysz Racing riders conquer the Mountain Course is an upgraded systems dash, which will better communicate the pace of the rider in relation to the course, and what is occurring on the 2012 MotoCzysz E1pc.
“We’re communicating to the riders very simple, clean, and efficient strategies on what they can do with the bike — and that’s on-the-fly as they go,” said Czysz. “This is really one of our secret sauces this year.”
