Well, my internet is spotty and getting all the details right has been impossible, so please just consider this a basic guide to what is going and check out the ESBK.co Facebook page for links to articles and updates from teams and riders.
We finally got results with yesterday’s practice, which is the second practice according to the teams. And there is nothing about the first practice on the TT’s website. David Heron did a good job of piecing together Friday’s result from social media. I think he thought Saroléa didn’t finish their lap, but I got word from them that they had transponder issues, and actually snagged third in both practices to date. The Buckeyes qual’d on Friday but noted an issue with their pack. They have since fixed said issue and have opted not run any more practices, instead leaving everything for the race. Mark Miller has been racing for Vercar Moto on both the R6 electric conversion and their gas powered Yamaha R6. He has been having a good time. In the first practice he had an overheating issues and had to wait 4 minutes before the bike would let him reset it, according to his Facebook page. He didn’t have much to say about the second TT Zero practice other than it went well. ManxTT and Brunell have also run, but it seems both have not finished at least one of the two practice laps. The Mugen guys have had some excitement. There’s a photo of Antsey’s bike with fire coming out of it in the first practice According to the Mogen rep that smoke is from the rear tire and the sunlight reflecting in it and the bike’s retirement had nothing to do with the electrical system. Meanwhile his teammate McGuiness ran a 111mph lap. In the second practice Antsey came back with 112mph, while McGuiness “slowed” to 109mph. Part of this appears to due to a hand injury. But it was not uncommon to see MotoCzysz teammates swap fast times, and even slowdown in the second practice. So none of this is unusual. Also, if memory serves, Mugen has said 115mph is possible. And with how things have gone in the past 112mph in the second practice doesn’t seem like that big a deal. But 115mph in the race is what I will be watching for. The last team that has been a mystery is Darvill Racing. They teased a shot of an Empulse on its way to Isle of Man, but as of the last I saw, they had not confirmed whether they were going to enter it or not.
It seems 5 bikes finished yesterday, which I think is one more than Friday. But again I am not positive. So it looks like this year isn’t going as well as last year in that respect, but nowhere near as bad as previous years. So the Mugen boys are in their own race as MotoCzysz or any other factory (ie. Brammo, Mission, or Lightning) isn’t there to challenge them. The question will be can McGuinness get his first TT Zero win, or will his teammate snatch it. Next it looks like it might be a good battle for third between the Buckeyes and Saroléa as they both seem to be in the low 90mph speed bracket. Next down the list will be Brunell and Vercar Moto as they are both close in the 80mph bracket. I am not sure that a stock Empulse will be far off of those speeds, should Darvill get a bike in and qualified. We have one more practice before the race, so we’ll see.
Enjoy.
P.S. Check out Arc EV Racing’s Twitter feed to find out what is going on with them. They have fixed something, had a dyno run and am going to run practice on Monday.