Duhamel Wins FIM e-Power/TTXGP Race at Le Mans

Miguel Duhamel can put another victory on his already-impressive resume after winning his first ever electric motorcycle race, taking the checkered flag in the FIM e-Power/TTXGP race at France’s Le Mans circuit.

Riding for Lightning-Barracuda, Duhamel took the checkered flag by edging Muench Racing’s Mattias Himmelmann in the eight-lap race by 1.929 seconds.

Duhamel started on the pole but it was Himmelmann who took the early lead. Duhamel was second followed by Zongshen Racing‘s Tang Yu. Himmelmann led the first two laps but Duhamel was not far behind, trailing by just 0.180 seconds on Lap One and 0.212 seconds on Lap Two.

Mechanical issues appeared to strike Muench Racing’s riders on Lap 3 with Himmelmann dropping back to last place and teammate Katje Poensgen coming to a complete halt, forcing her retirement from the race. This provided Duhamel with a strong 10-second lead with Tang following in second.

The series leader heading into the race, Himmelmann recovered from the setback and began laying down fast lap times including a blistering 1:52.888 on Lap 5, three seconds faster than anyone else’s best time. Himmelmann’s pace brought Duhamel back within reach, with the German taking the lead on Lap 7 by 0.173 seconds.

On the final lap however it was Duhamel laying down a lap time of 1:55.773, crossing the finish ahead of Himmelmann. Tang completed the podium about 30 seconds later.

With his second-place finish, Himmelmann wins the TTXGP’s European Championship and the FIM e-Power Championship.

[Source: TTXGP, FIM]

By Dennis Chung