MotoCzysz takes 1st and 2nd at TT Zero, misses the ton by a smidgeon [w/VIDEO]

MotoCzysz has convincingly won the TT Zero on the Island of Man with its just-completed 2011 version of the E1pc. Piloted by Michael Rutter, the bike crossed the finish line after taking just 22 minutes and 43.68 seconds to complete the 37.733-mile course. He was closely shadowed for much of the distance by last year's winning combination of rider Mark Miller and the 2010 edition of the MotoCzysz E1pc.

While we are sure that team principle Michael Czysz is extremely pleased with the result – his team has been burning the midnight oil for the past six months preparing for the race – we also suspect there is the faintest tinge of disappointment coloring the victories. Motivated by more than the mere winning of trophies, Czysz had hoped to break "the ton" on this 100th running of the TT event. Unfortunately, Rutter's average speed around the Snaefell Mountain Course was 99.604 miles per hour, just a smidgeon below the 100 mph-mark that would have placed a gold star beside their efforts in the history books.

Third place belonged to the Ion Horse entry from Imperial College Kingston University ridden by George Spence. Their bike, quite fetching in its Ecotricity livery, boasts a 100 kW (134 horsepower) Yasa motor and an impressive 14 kWh battery. Their result was also good enough to claim a special £5,000 ($8,182.08 at today's rates) prize for quickest University participant. The team from MIT EVT with their A123 Systems battery-powered BMW nailed down fourth spot while Yoshinari Matsushita was the last to finish under power for team Prozza. Lightning Motors also crossed the finish but only because of the valiant effort of its rider John Burrows who had to push it after the juice ran out. The 2010 North American TTXGP champs faced huge challenges just to get their machine on the track after their EnerDel batteries were held up in customs.

Hit the jump for a bit of video from the race as well as footage of the following press conference with the riders. He expect we'll be seeing many of these same bikes in action at the TTXGP and other events later this year. We also boldly predict that next year's TT Zero will see the 100 mph average lap speed exceeded by at least one battery-powered machine.


[Source: TT Zero]

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