Victory return to TT Zero with William Dunlop

Victory Motorcycles will return to the Isle of Man TT this year with an all-new electric race bike, the Victory RR.

The machine, which will be ridden by William Dunlop, has been developed over the past 12 months from data gathered from last year’s TT Zero race, in which Lee Johnston and Guy Martin rode to third and fourth respectively.

The battery has been re-designed from the ground up, with the electric motor also enhanced to boast a peak of over 170bhp.

“Our electric Empulse RR race bike placed third on the podium in the TT Zero last year, which we were thrilled with,” said Victory Racing’s Brian Wismann. “Using the data we gathered on our laps of the TT course has helped us develop a new battery module as well as improving the powertrain. We feel like we can return to the TT with more performance as well as being able to test this technology for our future products.

“The newly developed battery leverages the lessons learned from our entry in last year’s race. It’s 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 aluminium 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.

Victory’s late entry will be welcomed by TT organisers with competition looking to hot up in the electric class, which has been dominated by Mugen Racing for the last two years. Not only are Victory upping the ante for 2016, but Belgian outfit Sarolea are also looking to make significant gains having signed up Dean Harrison and Lee Johnston for the one-lap race.