Electric Bike on the Podium in WERA Races
Riding his SWIGZ electric superbike, Yates earned a third-place result in the Heavyweight Twins Superbike class and a second-place result in a Heavyweight Twins Superstock race at a WERA West regional club racing event Jan. 9 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
“This was an absolutely epic race weekend for our team; we had to overcome some technical difficulties on Saturday but we fixed everything and came back Sunday to score two podiums, a huge top speed, and post competitive gasoline bike lap times with no further technical issues to slow us down. What a humbling experience for our small team to develop and build a superbike that can beat gasoline bikes from the top manufacturers on their own terms – I was nearly brought to tears as I crossed the finish line both times!”
In the Superbike race, Yates was third in a field of seven entries. Yates finished behind KTM 1195 rider and race winner James Randolph, and KTM 990 rider Robert Swafford.
In the Superstock race, Yates finished behind only Jamie Riddle who rode a Ducati, while setting the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:39.792. Yates reached a speed of 158 mph on the straight riding the electric
“We have to thank WERA Motorcycle Roadracing and Evelyne Clarke for their graciousness and vision in welcoming our electric superbike to their nationwide gasoline race series,” says Yates. “Out of courtesy to the regular WERA racers, we forfeited the championship points we accumulated today so as not to interfere with the gasoline bike season results and a lot of those racers visited our pits to voice their support of our program!”
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