Victory confirms Project 156 and Empulse RR for Pikes Peak

American firm Victory has officially announced it will be racing at the famous Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in June this year.

The firm will be racing both an updated versions of the 1200cc V-twin Project 156 and the all-electric Empulse RR the company raced at the Isle of Man TT in 2015 to finish third in the TT Zero event.

MCN reported Victory would be making a return to Pikes Peak three weeks ago; a decision that adds further weight to the rumour the firm is going to put the Project 156 into production in the near future.

The Project 156 prototype bike will be ridden by 2014 Pikes Peak Heavyweight Champion Jeremy Toye and the Empulse RR electric prototype will be raced by American bike journalist Don Canet in the Electric Motorcycle Class. Canet previously rode Project 156 in 2015.

Director of Marketing for Victory Motorcycles, Alex Hultgren said: “We are eager to bring the Victory Racing team back to Pikes Peak this year to help celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Race to the Clouds.

“One way Victory lives and breathes Modern American Muscle is by continuously pushing ourselves through our performance and racing initiatives and since Pikes Peak is arguably the most challenging race in America, it’s exactly where we need to be.”

EMPULSE RR TESTING STARTED ALREADY

Testing of the Empulse RR electric prototype has already begun and team manager, Brian Wismann said: “The Victory Racing team is pleased to have successfully completed our first test in our journey back to challenge Pikes Peak on its 100th anniversary. We wanted to get our racer some familiarity with the power delivery, handling and nuances of racing an electric motorcycle and we were able to accomplish that and more. We’re looking forward to the next test when we really start to fine-tune our set up to tackle the mountain!”

MCN tested the 2015 Victory Empulse RR after it competed at the Isle of Man TT last year.

The 100th anniversary and 94th running of The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPHIC), has a strong field of approximately 100 competitors. The Race to the Clouds, staged for Sunday, June 26, promises to be among the best in the history of the world’s most prestigious auto hill climb and America’s second oldest motorsports race behind the Indianapolis 500.