Victory Motorcycles announced that Victory Racing’s electric Empulse RR ridden by Cycle World’s Road Test Editor Don Canet and gas-powered Project 156 piloted by Jeremy Toye accelerated away from the competition to win their respective classes at the 2016 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) and take second and third overall.
In the overall PPIHC motorcycle competition, Canet and the Empulse RR placed 2nd while Toye and Project 156 placed 3rd, both closely following veteran racer Corsican Bruno Langlois and his Kawasaki Z 1000 who benefitted from a dryer and warmer course later in the morning due to a series of red flags.
Canet and his Empulse RR clocked a time of 10:17.813 with an average speed of 69.9 mph through the 156-turn course that takes racers from 9,390 feet above sea level to the mountain’s summit of 14,115 feet above sea level. The 12.42-mile course is split into four sections. Canet zipped through the flowing section #1 in 1:50.531, steep section #2 in 2:26.924, technical section #3 in 2:53.568 and longer, high elevation section #4 in 3:06.790.
Toye rode Project 156 to the Pikes Peak summit in a time of 10.19.777 with an average speed of 69.7 mph. He and his Project 156 bellowed through section #1 in 1:52.520, section #2 in 2:27.213, section #3 in 2:53.375 and section #4 in 3:06.669.
“I think it’s a great month for Victory Motorcycles and a great month for America!” says Brian Wismann, Victory Racing Team Manager. “Imagine our brand first taking on the world’s best at the Isle of Man and achieving a podium there, then a couple of weeks later taking on the other epic race on the planet here at Pikes Peak and putting two bikes on the podium – one gas and one electric. I’d just like to really thank all of our sponsors in helping us race these bikes to the clouds in such a stellar way. Victory Motorcycles puts out a great team. I just want to let everyone know that everything we do at Isle of Man and everything we do at Pikes Peak makes it into our production bikes and that that is why we race.”
Victory Motorcycles was the only brand at this year’s PPIHC to race both electric and gas-powered race vehicles.
“Two years ago we didn’t have anything to compete with at the hill here,” says Nate Secor, Marketing Manager for Victory Motorcycles. “Now, having two of the three spots in the overall, all of our owners and all of the fans of American motorcycling should be proud. As a brand, we’re extremely proud of all of the work the guys have done on the engineering side and with the riders for putting us in this position. It is a long way to come in two years, and I don’t think anyone else in the world has a podium at the Isle of Man and at Pikes Peak in the same month. So we’re extremely proud of that and will be excited to get back here and make it happen again.”
For more information: VictoryMotorcycles.com
