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Michael Rutter

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One distinction that got overlooked from this year’s Isle of Man TT is the fact that MotoCzysz currently holds the top seven fastest laps ever put down by an electric vehicle around the TT’s Mountain Course. What makes this feat perhaps more noteworthy is that two of those laps have been captured in a single video, due in part by MotoCzysz’s two-bike strategy this year at the TT Zero. With American Mark Miller on the 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc and Michael Rutter on the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc, the two competitors lapped a thinking man’s race down the course, with each rider trying to conserve power, and get into position for a final-stretch breakaway

Pulling around and ahead of his teammate down the final stretches of the course, Rutter was disappointingly just shy of the 100 mph mark, leaving the Isle of Man’s bounty on the average lap speed to stand until next year. Still, the pair both set the fastest times ever in the TT Zero, and improved on the pace from last year. MotoCzysz has now been kind enough to share their lap records with us in a video that shows not only the race telemetry (Contour cameras for the win!), but also has Mark Miller and Michael Rutter commentating. Watch the 23 minute video of Rutter’s and Miller’s race over on MotoCzysz.com.

Source: MotoCzysz

The second running of the TT Zero at the Isle of Man TT, made for the Isle’s third electric racing occasion on the Manx island. With 2011 being the 100th year of the Isle of Man TT running over the fabled Mountain Course, all eyes were focused to see if the fitting 100 mph barrier would drop as the electrics made their race today. Heavily favored were the bikes from the Segway MotoCzysz Racing team, which brought a modified version of its 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc that was being raced again by last year’s winner Mark Miller, as well as the company’s new 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc that Michael Rutter would swing a leg over. Also on the Isle was MotoCzysz rival Lightning Motorcycles, an entry from Japan, and a bevy of strong university teams.

Sources have been hinting that MotoCzysz had two bikes in the works for the upcoming TT Zero, and now we’ve gotten confirmation from the Portland, Oregon company that it will indeed be fielding two bikes at the Isle of Man TT. As with the past two years, Mark Miller will be at the helm of the MotoCzysz machine, but this year he will be joined by Michael Rutter on the second Czysz bike.

Mark Miller rode the MotoCzysz E1pc to victory last year during the TT Zero, while Rutter was a solid Top 10 contender in the Superbike, Superstock, and Senior TT classes. Though the Englishman has won 27 BSB Championship races, and competed in both MotoGP and World Superbike, this will be Rutter’s first foray into electric motorcycle racing.