It wasn't long ago that electric motorsport championships were seen as not much more than developmental classes for electric vehicles. They had very few viewers and lacked the visceral entertainment of their combustion counterparts.
But that perception changed swiftly when the Stark Varg came along and ripped so hard that the FIM changed the rules for the SuperEnduro World Championship—less than a day before it was set to compete.
Finally, we've had the opportunity to see an electric motorcycle mix it up with the best combustion bikes and riders in its class at an FIM event. This past weekend, a few electric GasGas trial bikes and an electric Yamaha competed at the FIM Trial GP Trial2 event in Japan.
And the results were ones for the record books.
For the first time, an electric vehicle beat an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle at a FIM Trial GP Trial2 event. Riding an electric GasGas TXE, Sondre Haga won the first day of the event.
Haga, a former FIM Trial2 World Champion and current GasGas Factory Racing rider, ultimately finished in 5th place after the 2-day event. Just two points separated the riders from 5th to 2nd place, making this a monumental leap forward for electric bikes in this class and cementing the fact that they can compete with ICE machines, as this wasn't the case not long ago.
Fans first got a look at how e-trial bikes faired against the competition back in February when Haga competed on a GasGas TXE in the Spanish Trial Championship. But the main reason behind competing was to "collect data", according to GasGas, and the bike finished outside of the top 10.
Well, based on the latest results, it looks like GasGas has collected enough data to compete with the best in the business.
Until recently, electric trial bikes competed in a separate class from ICE bikes, known as the FIM Trial E World Championship. GasGas won the championship four times between 2017 and 2021 with the TXE. But now it looks like the TXE has the chops to be a regular competitor in the FIM trial GP World Championship.
The question is, what series will we see electric vehicles enter and compete with the top ICE machinery next? Or maybe the real question is, when will the FIM let Stark Future's Stark Varg compete?
