Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/677616
VOL. 52 ISSUE 18 MAY 10, 2016 P47 running succession of Mo- toCzysz E1pc (as in politically correct) E-bikes proved to be the performance paragons among the new wave of zero emissions road racers developed in the wake of the first TTXGP race for such devices held in the Isle of Man in 2009. The first hurriedly produced MotoCzysz E1pc had a troubled debut in that event, but one year later in 2010 MotoC- zysz returned to triumph in the race held over a single lap of the legendary 37.73-mile Mountain Course, with American TT racer Mark Miller riding it to victory at an average speed of 96.82 mph from a standing start. This was the first TT win by an American motorcycle since Indian back in 1911, and the first ever by a bike and rider both from the USA. One month later, it was the turn of Michael Czysz himself, no mean racer, and an instructor at the Kevin Schwantz Riding School, to take his TT-winning electric racer to victory at La- guna Seca in the inaugural FIM e-Power race staged alongside the U.S. GP. This success gathered sponsorship from electric two- wheeled manufacturers Segway to return to the Isle of Man in 2011. This time, the aim was not only to score a repeat victory, but to gain added prestige by setting the first-ever electric- powered 100 mph lap, with the attendant £10,000 bounty awarded by the Isle of Man Gov- ernment for such an achieve- ment. To better the chances of achieving this, Czysz brought a second 011 E1pc bike for British TT veteran Michael Rutter, who duly won the race with team- mate Miller second, but narrowly missed out on the cash bonus by lapping at "just" 99.60 mph. For 2012, Czysz returned to the TT for a fourth time, again with Segway's support, for Rut- ter and Miller to race a brand new pair of slim, svelte 012 E1pc bikes, which manifested the con- siderable attention he'd mean- time paid to aerodynamics. The growing global interest in zero emission racing was underlined by the presence of entries from two Japanese teams, one ridden by TT ace and current outright lap record holder John McGuin- ness. McGuinness was racing a bike named the Shinden, after the Japanese god of electric- ity, that had been created and entered by Honda's blue-sky R&D partner Team Mugen. But it was the American E-racer that again came out on top, with Rutter crossing the line 23.52 seconds ahead of McGuinness to win again at an average speed of 104.06 mph, fast enough to write his name and that of MotoCzysz in the TT record books. Rutter thus collected that 10 grand check, which he duly shared with teammate Miller, who finished third, with all three riders breaking the 100- mph barrier. Czysz returned in 2013 for Rutter to score a fourth successive victory for the team, defeating Mugen-mounted Mc- Guinness for the second year in succession, albeit by the narrow margin of just 1.67 seconds. But it was upon returning home from this triumph that Michael Czysz was diagnosed with the illness that has now taken him from us, another, much sadder feature of his life shared with the late John Britten. Michael Czysz was a true Renaissance man, one who combined aesthetic artistry with a talent for engineering, in a vari- ety of disparate fields. If the late Massimo Tamburini was the Mi- chelangelo of motorcycling, then Czysz was a two-wheeled Leon- ardo da Vinci, whose capacity for innovation and eye for beauty was matched by his determina- tion to break down the barriers of two-wheeled convention. Like his hero John Britten, Czysz was a radical revisionist, a self-taught engineer with the capacity to smash the mold of two-wheeled design convention in favor of creating something completely unique and technically innova- tive, which delivered success on the racetrack. He was indeed a motorcycle visionary, a man un- prepared to accept compromise, and a hard taskmaster who nevertheless inspired devotion in others sharing the joint pursuit of avant-garde technology. Our heartfelt sympathies for Michael's loss go to his wife Lisa, and sons Enzo and Max. Alan Cathcart