Max Biaggi returned to the world of land speed racing in mid-November, visiting the Space Florida track at the Kennedy Space Center aboard the Voxan Wattman. This time, the former world champion roadracer left the track with a shopping cart full of records.
Biaggi set a record for a two-way run at 455.737 km/h aboard the Voxan Wattman, good enough for a new record in the FIM’s highly-coveted “partially-streamlined electric motorbike under 300 kg” category. He also set a record for a two-way run at 369.626 km/h in the “non-streamlined electric motorbike under 300 kg” category, and bagged 19 other records as well during his November 18-23 visit to the Florida track. That in itself might be a record, for most motorcycle records grabbed in a week?
This follows Biaggi’s land speed racing in France last year, when he took the Wattman to 11 world records. The bike is similar to the one he rode last year, but the motor now makes the equivalent of 429 horsepower (320 kW). There’s also adjustable bodywork on the latest-generation Wattman, making it easier for the team to switch between semi-faired and unfaired categories.
The Voxan Wattman
The Wattman project goes back to 2013, when Venturi bought Voxan and steered the French company down the path of electric motorcycles. You can see CMG’s original write-up for the first Wattman project here.
Since then, Venturi has dumped piles of money into the Voxan project, but it has shelves full of land speed records to show for it. See more details on the project’s ongoing evolution at the Venturi website here.
