William Dunlop Rides 112.85mph Lap On New Electric Victory RR

Victory Racing has successfully run its new Victory RR bike in the first of three practice sessions ahead of the Isle of Man TT Zero race, beating the fastest lap speed set by the team last year. William Dunlop rode one lap of the course, achieving an average speed of 112.85 mph – some 8.7 mph faster than his 104.18 mph lap last year. His lap time was 20:03:630 – just three seconds over the 20 minute mark. William was 18 mph faster through the Sulby speed trap compared to last year – hitting 158.3 mph. The Victory RR bike was the fastest machine through the Grandstand at the end of the lap hitting 142.52 mph compared to John McGuiness' 125.90 mph.

Much of the increase in speed has come from the upgraded Parker GVM electric motor coupled to a more advanced battery, developed by Brammo. Five teams chose to enter the first SES TT Zero practice (Victory Racing, Mugen, Brunel University and Lito Sora). William Dunlop was third fastest behind the two Mugen riders, John McGuiness and Bruce Anstey, who put in 117 mph and 114 mph laps respectively, showing that Victory Racing has significantly stepped up its performance. Team manager Brian Wismann said the Victory RR has a new battery with a higher energy density compared to last year as well as an upgraded Parker GVM electric motor with new windings.

“We knew the Victory RR would be faster than last year’s Empulse RR,” Wismann said. “And we have clearly closed the gap on Mugen, reaching almost 113 mph compared to Bruce’s 114 mph and John’s 117 mph laps. We knew William would perform well tonight because during testing at Jurby earlier in the week he was consistently 5 to 6 seconds faster around the test track compared to last year. Now our focus is on analysing the data from this practice lap and looking at what we can change ahead of Saturday’s session.”

“That was really peaceful, it was real nice,” William Dunlop said. “Even though I only did one lap last year, I feel much more comfortable riding this new bike. I saw 156mph on the clock and it felt much faster than it did while I was testing at Jurby. I rode a 104 mph lap last year, so it’s a great step up.”

The TT Zero race takes place at 4:25 p.m. local time on Wednesday, June 8, 2016.

The new Victory RR electric motorcycle has been developed over the past year using data gathered during last year's TT Zero. “The newly developed battery in the Victory RR leverages the lessons learned from our entry in last year’s TT Zero event,” Brian Wismann explains. “The battery is a ground-up new design with the help of our technical partners at Brammo and necessitated a big change in the chassis design – from an extruded aluminum twin spar to a steel trellis frame. The biggest difference in the battery itself is an improvement in both the overall energy / capacity we’re carrying on board the bike, as well as a marked improvement in the energy density of the battery itself. As you know, lithium-ion battery technology is improving every year and with the Victory RR we are leading the way to batteries that will provide more performance, greater range and less cost in future vehicles.”

Some enhancements have also been made to the electric motor too. Developed in partnership with Parker Hannifin, the motor is called the Parker GVM. It boasts world-class specific power (the power to weight ratio), producing a peak of over 170hp from a package that is only eight inches in diameter and five inches long. With peak efficiencies topping 97 percent, it is clear to see why Victory gets excited about the potential of this powertrain for future products.

Brian Wismann adds: “Compared to the electric motor we used in the TT Zero event last year, this year’s version features an even further optimised winding configuration based on the data gathered from last year’s bikes. Coupled with the increased energy on board in the battery, William Dunlop will have access to more of the power available from this motor than in 2015.”

The Victory RR bike forms part of Victory's international R&D development program. This machine as well as the Empulse RR and Project 156 that are being raced at Pikes Peak later in June, are test beds for the technology that will be used in the firm's future products.