Trials Torque: Electric Shock
By John Dickinson on 28th Jun 17
IT has to be said that the announcement of the first running of the FIM Cup for TrialE (electric) motorcycles in France didnt really get many hearts racing but the result most definitely gave pause for thought!
The standout was the performance of Marc Colomer on the all-new Gas Gas TXTe.
The fact is, though, he posted a result that would have taken maximum points in Trial125, not something anyone had foreseen.
Colomer, Trial World Champion back in 1996, came out of retirement after 14 years, at the age of 42, in order to ride the TXTe and gather information and data from an actual competition, not just normal testing.
Marc has been involved in the development of the machine, which takes electric trials bikes to a whole new level, and chief test rider, and as such he was the perfect person for the job.
Gas Gas parent company Torrot produces only electric motorcycles and Gas Gas has been able to draw on this technical expertise to take a machine from inception to reality very quickly.
The machine is very obviously Gas Gas with the distinctive red perimeter style frame and stock suspension front and rear.
The really clever bit is the propulsion which sees an electric motor mated to a conventional clutch and gearbox.
Said Colomer: "We are very satisfied with the result, but especially with how the bike has behaved, and with the interest and acceptance shown by all the world of trials. Our Gas Gas is now a step ahead of the rest of its rivals in this category.
"We wanted to demonstrate that our TXTe is competitive and I believe that we have achieved this with our victory, because we were superior to even the 125s with petrol engines. This is a highly significant fact that opens a very promising future ahead of us. Electric trial bikes are now a reality.
"On Saturday I made a mistake in the classificatory round which meant we had to start first, which didn't go against us too much, because we hardly had any references about our rivals.
"For this reason we concentrated in making our own race.
"In the first round the ground was damp raising the technical level of the zones that benefitted us so we could make a difference.
"Later it dried off and we completed an even better second circuit.”
Marc concluded: "Our aim here reached further then just the result, we wanted to gather information and this competition has been a fantastic test bed for us.”
The majority of electric machines campaigned were the popular Electric Motion models but there was a further shock on Sunday as second place went to Cesar Panicot on another very interesting prototype Mecatecno which looked to be very light and manoeuvrable with plenty of potential.
So, from looking like being something of a novelty event with a nod towards ‘green' credentials the TrialE class provided the shock of the weekend – with the promise of much more to come from a class that has barely passed the start line in terms of development...
