Miguel Duhamel won the FIM e-Power & TTXGP race yesterday afternoon at Le Mans. Despite a three-year break from competition, the Canadian champion had lost nothing of his will to win as he rode the US Barracuda Lightning Racing Team’s electric motorcycle on the track this afternoon.
For his first race in this discipline, he carried the day after an intense battle with Matthias Himmelmann of the Münch Racing Team. “It was a fantastic race, said Miguel Duhamel with his delightful Quebec accent. Lightning is very powerful but you have to pace yourself to preserve the batteries for the end of the race. It’s the first time I’ve taken part in this type of race. I did 40 test laps this week, that’s all.”
2011, 2010 TTXGP Euro champion and TTXGP World Champion Matthias Himmelmann was out in front for the first few laps but was then stopped dead on the track. “A bit of rubber got stuck in the circuit breaker. I found the problem after a general check and then I was able to chase down Miguel.” Although he finished second he had a huge lead in the points table and managed to secure his third euro Title. In the meantime, his Münch Racing Team team-mate Katja Poensgen had a much more serious electrical problem which kept her out for the duration.
After his win at Oschersleben, Tang Yu of the Zongshen Racing Team was on the podium again, ahead of his teammates Ho Chi Fung and David Dumain, editor-in-chief of the French magazine Moto Journal. It has been amazing season for this racer taking the winners trophy in the last round and now third place at a track like Le Mans is a great achievement on a DC powered Motorcycle, “I am really happy to podium here in Le Mans representing Zongshen Racing and China. After the crash I had in the first practice the team had to work really hard to repair the damage and i am so please to be able to give them a podium position and thank them for building me a good bike. It was an exciting end to the European season and I am very happy to be involved. “ Christian Amendt of Germany, who brings up the rear in the rankings here at Le Mans, had to rebuild his bike after the practice following a motor burnout.
Perhaps we’ll see Miguel as a series regular in 2013, one never knows where the Canadian legend will end up next!