Steve's scraped helmet?

[FreepZ]

I hope that they can pull something together. Shelina, or whoever the rider is, may not have had as much time on the bike as Steve, but any finish is better than no finish.

I'm guessing that the Brammo Team are going to have a very busy night tonight (or perhaps they are all getting drunk!)

[protomech]

Latest tweet:

"@ttxgp: #Brammo expected back for Q1 later today. W/new rider. Steve Atlas is OK will be back after a few weeks break for a reboot. #TTXGP"

Wow. That's some fast repair work. Let's hope Steve recovers with a swiftness, and wish Shelina good luck as she's rushed into the rider seat..

[Gavin]

That was hella fast!

Good Luck Shelina
And Brammo

And get well Steve O

Gavin

[FreepZ]

Ha! You're all assuming that Shelina is going to be the rider, but are you sure? Perhaps she was busy and someone else is going to be the rider.

Richard (a.k.a. TTXGP Fan)? Gavin (mild mannered Pediatric Sonographer by day, Super Bike racer by night)?  It could be anybody!



Yeah, I'm going to guess it's going to be Shelina too.

Good luck to everybody!

[Brammofan]

Brian just tweeted that they are headed back to the track for qualifying.

[Deadly Silent Ninja]

Brian just tweeted that they are headed back to the track for qualifying.

Can you confirm who the rider is? 

Also, it's great to know that SteveO is not in such a bad shape and will be back sooner than I thought (although a few weeks may be more than a couple of months...)   

[Shinysideup]

On Brammo's FB page:

Steve Rapp steps in to ride #1 Empulse RR for Team Icon Brammo. Steve is familiar with electric racing and is known for his aggressive riding style.......

[Deadly Silent Ninja]

Well, let's see if his aggressiveness will keep the bike on track. Apparently, the extra power kicks like a horse... 
Although Rapp did ride that Mission rocket last year...

[Gavin]

I head that Rapp just High Sided??

Any info?

Gavin

[protomech]

From Facebook:
"More bad news from Infineon I'm afraid...... Steve Rapp has crashed and broken his wrist. Team Icon Brammo are now closing down and coming home. This leaves just one team - Lightning - left in the TTXGP group."

Bad news for Brammo.. big morale hit I'm sure.

[Deadly Silent Ninja]

Now, it's officially a curse... 

This is not good for the unveiling of the Empulse on the 8th either. It should be all fun and games, maybe even a victory. Now it became kind of a let down. I hope both Steves will recover soon.

Maybe they can use it to sell the Empulse, though. "So powerful even professional race pilots can't handle it." Then, they could have Selina walking in, saying: "Boys..." Shakes her head, mounts, and ride the Empulse towards the sunset... 

It would get some points with the female public, especially if she wins the next race. 

[Brammofan]

DSN -that's actually kind of funny (the Shelina part). I'm sure spirits will be high for the official launch. Sucks about the bike and the Steves, though.

[Deadly Silent Ninja]

These are the latest pieces of news I found:
http://www.examiner.com/article/steve-rapp-rides-and-wrecks-for-brammo-ttxgp-qualifying-round-at-infineon?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

http://www.electricracenews.com/2012/05/brammo-with-steve-rapp-riding-crashes.html


Nothing really new, but it seems that both Steves had their accidents on the same spot. According to one of the posts, Rapp's accident was probably caused by a malfunction, which could have been a result of the first accident:

Brian Wisman said it definitely was not rider error. There was cooling fluid on the rear tire which is believed to have been a factor. Wisman expressed his most sincere apology to the other teams for which Atlas and Rapp were riding.

Other interest note is, even with the accidents, Brammo had the 3rd best time.

Other than this incident the qualifying round went off similarly to this mornings practice round.  Both Lightning bikes were tearing up the track, while the four Zero bikes had their own race among themselves.

Results:

    Michael Barnes, #80, Lightning Motorcycles, best lap 1:47.553 (manual)
    Tim Hunt, #89, Lightning Motorcycles, best lap 1:54.730
    Steve Rapp, #1, Team Icon Brammo, best lap 1:57.133 (wrecked, will not race)
    Martin Szwarc, #5, Zero Motorcycles, best lap 2:10.342
    Kenyon Kluge, #96, Zero Motorcycles, best lap 2:13.893
    Jason Lauritzen, #7, Zero Motorcycles, best lap 2:14.161
    Jennifer Lauritzen, #619, Zero Motorcycles, best lap 2:18.858

The difference between the 3 brands seem pretty big, though. I don't know how much faster Brammo could have gone, but 10 seconds is really a lot of ground to cover. And Brammo had a 13 seconds lead on the Zeros. It will be a weird race now. The two Lightnings will probably be making full laps around the Zeros. Just based on the times above, Barnes could catch Lauritzen in less than 4 laps.

[Brammofan]

Photos and information:
http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/racing/2012-brammo-empulse-rr-crash-photos/

[EmpulseRider]

Another crash... thought this was some kinda cruel joke at first. Glad both Steve's are ok though...