Millville, NJ
Sunday’s round two of this weekend’s eMotoRacing Varsity Challenge at New Jersey Motorsports Park took on a different look than Saturday’s event. The student built prototypes held their own against the private teams on their production based ebikes.
Although round one was exciting, it settled into 2 distinct races within the 6 lap affair. Collegiate Teams battled each other, but could not keep up with the wild battle up front among the private teams on production based ebikes.
Round two showcased the real progress being made by the innovative engineering departments of Rochester Institute of Technology and University of Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Sunday’s Round Two Race Report…
Floridian Arthur Kowitz took an early lead on is Brammo TTX, fighting off an aggressive first lap bid from series’ points leader and round one winner Pete Nicolosi, also Brammo mounted.
Bob Berbeco and his fully faired Brammo stayed with the leaders in the early laps, with the collegiate teams in hot pursuit.
RIT graduate, current Cornell faculty member, and IOM veteran Karl Smolenski on the RIT collegiate entry battled early with Canadian Expert road racer Samuel Proulx on the U of Sherbrooke prototype.
On lap four Proulx began to pull away from Smolenski, and eventually caught Berbeco for an impressive second overall finish behind winner Kowitz.
Smolinski’s RIT entry maintained a strong and competitive pace but could not catch Berbeco.
Hanni Berger, a veteran AHRMA Vintage Superbike rider, finished fifth with an impressive performance in her eMotoRacing debut.
For their excellent finish, the University of Sherbrooke was presented the balance of the Woodcraft Technologies $1000 scholarship, awarded to the top placing collegiate team.
The 25 member strong Canadian student team had earlier treated the crowds at NJMP by following the opening invocation and Star Spangled Banner with their rousing rendition of the Canadian National Anthem.
Other student teams that could not make this year’s event can now set their sights on the 2017 Varsity Challenge at NJMP.
Videos, photos, and comments are available to all at eMotoRacing.com and on eMotoRacing’s Facebook page.
RESULTS
Arthur Kowitz Brammo Empulse TTX Ormond Beach FL
Samuel Proulx U of Sherbrooke Prototype Sherbrooke, Quebec
Bob Berbeco Brammo Empulse R Indianapolis IN
Karl Smolenski RIT Prototype Ithaca NY
Hanni Berger Brammo Empulse R Atlanta GA
Pete Nicolosi Brammo Empulse R Daniel Island SC