Quiet revolution
Coming fifth in the Super Hooligan class in America might not seem like a big deal. Unless you do it on an electric bike…
When Energica boss Giampiero Testino was told one of his electric road bikes might race against a full grid of petrol headcases in a national championship, he was nervous. No electric bike had ever done that, for good reason: the received wisdom was they’d be obliterated. ‘I was against the idea,’ Giampiero tells Bike. ‘We didn’t know what would happen, and the races were at Daytona where 80 percent of the lap is full throttle so I was scared about the consumption.’ But it turned out to be an extraordinary electric milestone.
Riding the Energica Eva Ribelle RS you see here, Stefano Mesa finished seventh in the first Super Hooligan race, beating 21 petrol bikes. In the second race he came fifth. OK, so the races are sprints – only six laps – and the class is for twin-cylinder road bikes such as Indian FTR1200S, Harley Pan Americas, BMW R ninets and KTM 890Rs. But the competition is hot, with factory teams and super-fast riders such as ex-gp star Jeremy Mcwilliams. Giampiero was right to be worried – Energica could have come last, or not finished at all. ‘Fortunately my US colleagues persuaded me,’ he says. ‘America has a different vision of racing. In Europe it follows Motogp, with a very serious, second is the first loser type of approach. But in the US it’s more about the story behind the race [ie, it’s not essential to win to get good publicity].’
The three factory Indians and one of the Pan Americas were four seconds a lap faster than the Energica (and everyone else), but after that it was very even. ‘It was a cool experience,’ says Stefano Mesa, who rode the Energica. ‘I was battling with the top KTM 890s and BMW R ninets the whole race.’
Stefano’s biggest problem was controlling the Ribelle’s gargantuan torque at small throttle openings. ‘Mid-corner was hard and it’s been a learning curve getting used to so much torque. We’ve tried different maps to wind it down to see if we can get a better drive because I’m a little nervous to crack the throttle because there’s nothing to hold back the torque. If the power delivery was less abrupt I’d get to full power easier.
‘We all know this is what the future is going to be’
‘The biggest strength of the Energica is off the start, which for me is 60 percent of the race because that can dictate whether you are in the front or back of the pack. I always get good starts on the Energica – I normally qualify on row three and get to the top row or even the holeshot by the first corner. That’s a real advantage.
‘It’s also very good off the corner… when I can manage the power delivery. If I have a corner where I can get on the gas early, I’ll shoot out of there. But if it’s a corner where I have to roll it through, I have to be patient when I’m on the side of the tyre because of the torque.’ The Ribelle weighs 260kg, but Stefano says that wasn’t a problem once on track. ‘You can feel that weight in the pits but when you start moving you don’t really feel it until you go for the brakes and there’s a lot of weight transfer. But in this class all the other bikes are very heavy too, so I don’t feel like I’m losing out there.
‘The next step is to develop the bike more – we need to develop the chassis to improve the handling. It’s not an Ego [Energica’s electric sportsbike that was raced in Motoe], so our chassis is different and we can make improvements there. Maybe we can put it a little closer to the front.’
If Stefano does go on to win, that could create its own set of different problems. ‘Yeah, as soon as we win they will probably try and ban it, I know that,’ he says. ‘That’s why I think it’s good that we are showing the process is difficult and steady – if we came straight in and won races it would be different. But people can see all the work we are doing to get the bike competitive. The other racers are super-interested in what we are doing too – it’s the bike that everyone stops to look at and talk about. We all know this is what the future is going to be.’