Electric Motorcycle makes history - posts fastest over all practice times at Pikes Peak.  

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - June 13, 2013 - PRLog -- Carlin Dunne and the SMA / Lightning race team has done what many have thought impossible.  In the very first weekend of practice for the legendary Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Dunne posted the fastest times over all on his solar powered motorcycle during Tire Testing weekend over all other competitors, not just electric, but the long dominant gas bikes as well.

“This is the first time in history that an electric bike has beaten top gas bike competitors on the same playing field” said Richard Hatfield, CEO and Founder of Lighting Motorcycles.

Tire Testing weekend is the first weekend of practice for the event and is crucial to every team.  Practice time is limited on the actual mountain race course because it is a public road and cannot be closed off for large periods of time, so teams must make the most of   getting time and testing of the actual race course and conditions for tires and equipment.  And Dunne obviously had the right combination working.

This event also marks the arrival of Pirelli Tire as the newest sponsor to the the SMA Lightning team.  One that Lighting and Dunne agree is crucial to the teams success.

“If you think about it, tires are your only point of contact between a 200mph plus monster of a machine, and a terrifying mountain road that has potential peril around every corner.  We couldn’t do this without Pirelli” said Art Haynie, Lightning’s director of marketing.

“Pirelli is excited to have the two wheel king of the peak from last year’s race, Carlin Dunne and his legendary teammate Miguel Duhamel riding the Lightning superbike on our newest V2 Diablo Superbike slicks.” said Jeff Johnston, Pirelli’s Moto OE, Roadrace & Product Manager.

About Lightning Motorcycles

Lightning Motorcycles was founded by Richard Hatfield and a group of Silicon Valley engineers dedicated to the belief that world class performance is compatible with clean tech transportation, in San Carlos, Calif. in 1999. By 2009, the company had created the Fastest Super Bike in the world and set the land speed record in 2010 at 176 mph. The team broke its own record in 2011 with a top speed of 218.637.  Since then, Lightning Motorcycles has established its dominance competing and winning in multiple internationally recognized superbike races.  The company’s mission is to develop the most innovative competition race bike and use that technology to produce and distribute affordable two wheel electric vehicles to commuter markets worldwide.

About SMA

The SMA Group generated sales of €1.5 billion in 2012 and is the global market leader for solar inverters, a key component of all PV plants and, as an energy management group, offers innovative key technologies for future power supply structures. It is headquartered in Niestetal, near Kassel, Germany, and is represented internationally in 21 countries. The Group employs more than 5,000 people worldwide. SMA’s broad product portfolio includes a compatible inverter for every type of module on the market and for all plant sizes. The product range includes both inverters for photovoltaic plants connected to the grid as well as inverters for off-grid systems. SMA is therefore able to provide ideal technical inverter solutions for all plant sizes and types. Since 2008, the Group’s parent company, SMA Solar Technology AG, has been listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (S92) and also in the TecDAX index. In recent years, SMA has received numerous awards for excellence as an employer and achieved first place in the nationwide “Great Place to Work®” competition in 2011 and 2012. www.SMA-America.com / www.SMA-Canada.ca