It sounds part James Bond film, part On Any Sunday: “Head to an island in the Baltic Sea, Agent 007 … where you’re entered in an electric dirt bike race.”
That’s the plan for CAKE, the upstart Swedish electric motorcycle manufacturer (read some previous coverage on CAKE here). With no electric motorcycle racing series that really suits CAKE’s bikes, the company is kicking off the CAKE Kalk One Design Global Championships. This time, it’s only one weekend’s worth of racing, not a full-on series (although that’s coming).Â
The plan is to invite 16 racers from around the world (including supermoto racers, MXers and downhill mountain bikers) for a round-robin opener. The CAKE website says the race “is a 4X (read 4-cross) format. With four racers in each heat racing to qualify. It’s a double elimination concept with winners and losers rounds, to eventually announce a winner.“
Racers are only allowed to ride CAKE’s Kalk Or and Kalk Ink models. Battery swaps are permitted, but no other modifications. CAKE wants to keep this race pretty basic.
CAKE hasn’t announced a date for the race weekend yet, but says it’ll run sometime in the summer of 2021 (no doubt COVID-19 will have something to say about it). It’s sort of a test run for the following year, as CAKE plans an international, multi-city race series for its machines. As per the website, “For 2022, CAKE is expanding the event into a series of urban races in major cities worldwide called Global City Racing. The race event will take place Thursday through Sunday, in the spirit of fun, excitement, and sustainability.“
It’s an interesting idea, and maybe this is the reboot motorcycle racing needs?
