We were stoked to receive the news this week that long time AEMC customer and Energica rider Anthony Long took out 1st Place in the Street Bike category for the 2023 Top End Nationals Finals drag racing meet.
Earlier this year we were proud to see an Energica Eva Ribelle RS compete in the MotoAmerica 2023 National Championship. Competing against ICE bikes, the Energica placed seventh and fifth in the series’ first two races. As its first race outing, those finishes are an impressive start for the electric motorcycle.
Now, Australia has got its first taste of electric competition with an outstanding result. Anthony and his Energica EsseEsse9+ took out top prize in this year’s Top End Finals meet in the Street Bike section. Not too long ago Anthony sent us a few beautiful shots of the adventures he’s been taking his EsseEsse9+ on around the Top End, but adventure wasn’t enough it seems, it was time to put the torque to tarmac and humble some ICE motorcycles riders in the process.
When we asked about Anthony’s history with drag racing, we were surprised at the answer…
“I didn’t expect to do well, and I had only been to a drag meet once before. Nathan, the guy I had been conversing with a lot before I ever came down, he pushed me to join. He made things easy. He’s a good bloke…
“I had been hanging around with the other street bike riders all afternoon, they had been very welcoming”
It was the first time the commentators had seen an electric motorcycle compete in the competition as well, nicknaming the Energica the AAA Lithium Beast. Whether you were an ICE bike loyalist or not, the results speak for themselves and we loved to see it.
In the qualifying race for the finals Anthony went up against a 1400cc Kawasaki and smoked the Ninja motorcycle Whether the Kawasaki was slow off the jump or the Energica just left it in the dust, the EsseEsse9+ had almost covered a quarter of the track by the time the Kawasaki left the start line.
“I had no expectation I would win. I had no expectation I would even do well” Anthony told us, “I didn’t even know I was in the finals until I went down for a grudge run and was told no, as I had to set up for finals.”
In the Final race Anthony went up against a 1000cc Yamaha R1 and we watched closely wondering which way the race would go. Even in second place it would have been an impressive result for the first time an electric motorcycle had entered the competition, and the Yamaha R1 is an impressive bike. But where the Energica has the advantage is in the instant torque from the world’s best electric motorcycle engine. Those precious first seconds as the lights flash green seems to be where the Energica EsseEsse9+ took the race. The nature of the electric motorcycle allowed an advantage in the dial in race due to more precise control over the engine. The bike ran consistently all night which allowed Anthony to sweep the win.
“I have already registered for the next event on August 12th and started posting around about my win on an electric to tease ICE riders to come down and take the challenge. We need more riders!” Anthony said, “I had let 6 of the other Street Bike riders have a go on the Energica to take it around the block. Each of them came back with a grin on their face, they loved the power”
What struck us as ironic is that of all the four Energica models, the EsseEsse9+ isn’t what you would call the ‘racer’ of the family. In all racing competitions across the world to date, we have seen the Energica Ego and Eva Ribelle take to the tracks. The EsseEsse9+ is geared as the street/tourer model of the Energica family. A testament to Energica’s engineering prowess.
We’ll wrap this up by saying a huge thank you to Anthony for getting in touch with us about his win and also congratulations. We look forward to seeing more of your races in future!
Looking ahead we’re excited to see our sister company, the English Electric Motor Co head to the Malle Mile in London to compete against some of the most iconic brands in Motorcycling in the most inappropriate motorcycle race in the UK. The race starts this weekend so stay tuned for imminent updates and photos.