THE ‘future’ of racing reached a new milestone as the lap by Steve Rapp on the Mission-R electric bike edged closer to the combustion-propelled machines.
A qualifying lap of 1:31.376 was 10 seconds off the pace of the leading MotoGP time set by Jorge Lorenzo and nearly five seconds off Josh Hayes pole-setting lap of 1:24.7. Putting the times into perspective, Rapp exclaimed that the electric revolution was the future and the ‘real deal’.
Rapp, a former Daytona 200 winner, won the support race on Sunday and commented: "It’s an easy bike to ride and a lot of fun. These are serious bikes and they are very fast at the same time it gives you the time to concentrate on your riding style because you don’t have to think about anything else.
"I think people didn’t take it seriously in the beginning, but when they saw the laptimes we had, we started to change some minds. The main thing is to get more people trying out these bikes because when they do they will see how much fun they are and the word will spread."
11 seconds covered the top six finishes, showing the gap between the electric bikes is gradually closing as the manufacturers begin to take a further understanding over the new race technology. Michael Czysz claimed second on his TT-winning MotoCzysz E1PC ahead of Michael Barnes on the Lightning Motorcycles entry.
Mission-R previously broke the electric record at Laguna Seca with Steve Rapp last month, head here for a unexpectedly noisy lap of Laguna Seca.
