TT ZERO LOSES KEY CONTENDER

US electric bike development specialist MotoCzysz, which has won every Isle of Man TT Zero race since its introduction in 2010, has pulled out of this year’s event, leaving the Mugen-badged works Honda machines of John McGuinness and Bruce Anstey with a clear run for the line.

MotoCzysz’s American rider Mark Miller won the first race plus two subsequent podium finishes, with Michael Rutter taking the following three victories. Alongside John McGuinness, Rutter and Miller are the only contestants to achieve TT Mountain Course laps in excess of 100mph on electric motorcycles to date. 

The company’s departure leaves Mugen as almost the sole representation left from a headline player. Leading US electric bike brand Brammo quit after a solitary attempt at TT Zero’s 2009 predecessor TTXGP, when the late Mark Buckley gained third spot on its machine, but has provided machinery for Manx-based Darvill Racing to return on its behalf this year.

Quite how competitive the Darvill squad will be is open to question, though. Brammo boasts that it has the fastest electric motorcycle currently in production, capable of more than 110mph. But that’s far slower than the Mugen works prototypes which, like the MotoCzysz bikes, were clocked at top speeds of 150mph-plus last year. MotoCzysz was bankrolled by virtually unlimited Silicon Valley computer industry funding while Honda reportedly invested over £3m in the Mugen project. 

Miller will now ride for Italy’s Team Vercarmoto, which made its TT Zero debut in 2012 and took a fifth-place finish in 2013 with 62-year-old TT veteran Chris McGahan in the saddle. Team owner Carlo Gelmi was persuaded to ditch McGahan in favour of Miller for 2014 by the event organisers, through a hugely increased start-money offer. 

The Vercamoto electric bike is a based on a Yamaha YZF-R6 rolling chassis, retaining the donor’s six-speed gearbox. McGahan clocked an 83.9mph lap on it last year, in a race with just ten starters.

Oddly, McGahan has a much better Isle of Man track record than Miller on conventional machinery. He has a pair of TT podium finishes to his credit and three fifth places, most recently in the swansong Ultra Lighweight TT of 2008. In addition, he is a noted classic racer on the Island in the Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT, with four wins and innumerable podiums. In consolation for his loss of the electric ride, Team Vercarmoto is supplying him with a bike for the 2014 TT Supersport races.