The head of Dorna, the company that holds the rights to MotoGP, has confirmed to Motorsport.com that the racing series will be adding a special class for electric race motorcycles in 2019.
Currently, Dorna is working to set up an electric support series for five MotoGP events in 2019, according to the report from Motorsport.com. Four motorcycle manufacturers have come forward and offered to supply the 18 bikes required for the race.
“The project is very advanced,” said Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta to Motorsport.com. “It’s most likely that in 2019 we will have several support races [for MotoGP] in Europe.”
“We already have four offers from brands on the table,” he said. “It will be one-make, with all bikes the same, and the races will be a minimum of 10 laps long.”
According to the report, the bikes should top out at around 125 miles per hour.
Ezpeleta confirmed that Dorna wants to use solar panels to charge the electric bikes. “This way, we can leave something profitable for the circuits where the series races,” he said to Motorsport.com.