Talking Electric Motorcycle Racing
T
he 2024 FIM E-Xplorer series
was held in Osaka, Japan,
on February 16-17 for the first
round of the electric off-road rac-
ing World Cup. Midori Moriwaki
was the event promoter, and we
got to discuss the event with her.
Moriwaki was born into
motorsports, as her grandfather
is the legendary Hideo "Pops"
Yoshimura, the founder of
Yoshimura R&D, and her father
is Mamoru Moriwaki, founder of
Moriwaki Engineering Co. Midori
Moriwaki has managed race
teams that include a recent stint
in MotoGP.
Tell us how you jumped from
Superbike team owner to Electric
Off-Road event racing organizer?
I don't see it as a jump. The
way I see is that it's all part of
the two-wheeled world, it doesn't
matter to me whether we're talk
-
ing about combustion engines
or electric motors, the important
thing is that the motorsports are
using innovative technologies.
When this championship was
conceived, I was eager to speak
to founder Valentin Guyonnet,
who comes from Formula E. I
believe that it's important that
those involved understand
motorsport as we set about de
-
veloping this new era of motor-
cycling, which comes after 100
years of the combustion engine,
of course. We have to grow
together, and it's not just down
to one person or one society but
will take a joint effort and a huge
amount of work. It's not impor
-
tant whether you're the racing
organizer, it's important that
those involved understand next-
gen motorsports. It is also about
the development and exchange
of technology, also between the
two- and four-wheeled world,
and so it's key that the racing
also helps to develop the batter
-
ies and motors.
Where do you see electric-
motor racing going?
This is a crucial time, and one
that involves everybody, from
manufacturers, to race organiz
-
ers, to the fans. Right now, the
global motorcycle market still
centers around combustion
engines. There are also regional
factors, with different types of
bikes selling in different parts of
the world, like small sport bikes
in South-East Asia, for example.
Sustainability and global warm
-
ing are key concerns, of course.
We cannot just focus on racing
for its own sake but must con-
sider innovative technology and
how we can harness it rather
than only considering our own
interests. That said, companies
still need to make a profit of
course, so we need to find a
way to balance the electric and
combustion products, without
moving too fast with the electric
side. This is an ongoing discus
-
VOLUME ISSUE MARCH , P33
Midori Moriwaki is the
event promoter of 2024
FIM E-Xplorer Series in
Japan, which had its first
race a few weeks ago.
