Six-time motorbike world champion, Max Biaggi, has broken a whole host of e-motorbike world records. Riding the Voxan Wattman at Châteauroux airfield in France, he hit a peak speed of 254mph (408km/h).
In 2010, motorcycle manufacturer Voxan Motors was bought by Venturi. The latter’s president, Gildo Pastor, immediately refocused the firm on electric engines.
In 2013, Venturi unveiled the first Voxan Wattman. Last year the team began work on a new, high-performance version, specifically designed to set new world speed records.
The bike features a 270 kW electric motor taken from a Formula E race car, teamed with a 15.9 kWh battery.
On Saturday October 31, Biaggi and the Voxan Wattman broke what was apparently the most sought-after of the world records they were targeting.
With a speed of 228.05 mph (366.94 km/h), the team set a new record in the “partially streamlined electric motorcycle over 300 kilos” class, breaking the previous record of 204mph (329km/h) set by Ryuji Tsuruta and the Mobitec EV-02A.
This saw the Voxan Wattman’s speed measured from a flying start over one mile in opposite directions, within a period of two hours. The record is the average of those two speeds.
The team also set the equivalent record with a non-streamlined version of the Wattman without its fairing, managing an average speed of 217.14 mph (349.38 km/h).
Nine other world records were also broken over various distances and from either standing or flying starts.
“When Gildo Pastor, the President of the Venturi Group, approached me about this project, I was curious, very motivated, and at the same time a little uncertain,” said Biaggi. “Having said that, right after our first meeting, I quickly realised that, like Gildo, his teams were driven by an incredible belief and determination.
“They told me, ‘We came close to 600 km/h (373 mph) on four wheels, and now we want to flirt with 400 km/h (249 mph) on two wheels. Nothing’s going to stop us.’
“These records make me a happy man. I’m proud of the team and delighted to bring these titles back to Monaco.”
Pastor added: “Twenty years after buying Venturi, I am delighted that the group can now claim to have created the fastest ever electric vehicles on two and four wheels (Venturi VBB-3, FIA record: 549 km/h – 341 mph), but also in the four-wheel fuel cell category (Venturi VBB-2, FIA record: 487 km/h – 303 mph).
“On each project, we have worked openly with major companies to share with them our expertise in the field of ground-breaking technologies, and in doing so contributed to improving ecomobility.”
