We’re very excited to see Belgium’s only electric motorcycle company, to our knowledge, Saroléa Racing gearing up to introduce its very own superbike, the SP7. The electric superbike is getting ready for this year’s TT Zero electric motorcycle race at the Isle of Man (IOM).
Saroléa’s SP7 electric superbike born from racing
Saroléa Racing is relatively new to the electric racing scene only being three years old. They are committed to racing and developing electric motorcycles though. They will be coming to the Isle of Man for the first time with Robert Wilson who will ride the Saroléa SP7 at the 2014 IOM TT Zero with the number 7. Wilson marks the return of the Saroléa with the electric SP7 at the Isle of Man TT Races for over half a decade. Qualifying at the IOM’s TT Race is determined with a tough 3 sessions of 1 lap only. That means the team has to collect all the information it can to take advantage of the conditions and performance of the bike. This will help them determine the best strategy for the race on the 4th of June. So far Wilson achieved a 123mph average speed for the race. This year Saroléa Racing is aiming for a top 10 finish.
Who is Robert Wilson and Saroléa Racing?
If you haven’t heard of Saroléa that might not be surprising. The team was founded when John Stoddart and his company, Stoddart Racing, collaborated with Saroléa Racing with their mutual passion for the international racing events at the Isle of Man TT. Stoddart Racing was formed three years ago with John Stoddart, a local motorcycle dealer based in Oban, Scotland and Robert Wilson who comes from the same town as Stoddart where he spends most of his time racing his motorcycle. He’s competed in the Scottish Road Racing Championship and raced the International NW200, IOM TT and Ulster GP.
That retro SP7 look and performance
There is something to be said about the SP7’s look. It has a great retro design with its hints of cafe racers. This look perfectly reflecting the heydays of the seventies at the IOM. With its 180 horsepower, 440 pounds (200 Kilos), 295 Ft-Lbs. of torque (400 Nm), the Saroléa racing bike rests on a decideldly modern carbon fiber frame, all the way down to the subframe, and swingarm. Think about it. Electric motorcycles have caught up with superbikes from five years ago. With Lightning Motorcycle’s upcoming release of its commercial superbike, the field is not only getting crowded, but down right competing against the best gasoline superbikes.
These are exciting times when teams are pioneering the world of racing with electric motorcycles at one of the most famous event of the year, the Isle of Man. Over the past few years, electric motorcycles carved their teeth on the gruesome lap bringing us better numbers.
As we mentioned in our previous article (?????????), the IOM TT is an extremely difficult event where electric motorcycles are not favored for range. However, they more than make up in performance due to the incredible torque an electric motor delivers. We highly encourage you to watch the movie Charge, available on Netflix, which chronicles the early days of racing on the Isle of Man. The comments from spectators during the first years are worth hearing. At that time, no one believed electric motorcycles could ever perform well in the racing world, let alone the world famous Isle of Man course. As the seasons have progressed, enthusiasts have warmed up to these electric bikes, seeing a promising potential future.
Motorcycle riders get torque, much more than car drivers. After all, who wouldn’t be attracted to an electric motor delivering 100% torque as soon as it spins? If gasoline engines have to be boosted continuously for better performance, the reverse is true for electric motorcycles. You have to tone down an electric motor’s wild torque to make use of it. If you didn’t, you would shred tires in a few spins. What an interesting challenge it is.
We are happy to see Saroléa Racing at the Isle of Man this year and wish them success as they further electric motorcycles around the electric racing community.
