For at least two years now, former roadracer Max Biaggi and French moto-manufacturer Voxan have said they wanted to set new electric land speed records. Now, they’ve finally gone ahead and done just that.
To be fair, it hasn’t exactly been easy to pull this off. Between degradation of famous land speed courses like the Bonneville salt flats, and COVID-19 interrupting international travel, you can forgive Voxan and Biaggi for taking a while to get this done. Turns out, they were able to set the record without leaving home, so to speak, as they pulled off this feat on a French airport runway last weekend.
After Venturi acquired the marque in 2010, Voxan moved away from gasoline-powered nakeds and cafe racers, and started building electric bikes. Its flagship machine is the street-going Wattman, and Voxan also has a racing-only version of the bike. That’s what Biaggi raced over the weekend.
According to Voxan, Biaggi managed to hit 408 km/h on the Voxan at one point, and set a bunch of new records for a partially streamlined electric motorcycle over 300 kilograms. If you’re familiar with land speed racing, you know what we’re talking about: Records with names like “1 mile, standing start, non-streamlined,” or “quarter mile, standing start, partially streamlined.” Basically, they take a course, throw a bunch of different permutations on the bike’s runs, make sure it’s got a special category that rules out other, potentially faster, bikes, and call it a record-setting day.
At least Voxan’s doing something, though, and props to them for moving electric motorcycle tech forward, and not sitting around twiddling their thumbs during the pandemic. And, props to Biaggi, for not sitting around bored during his retirement.
