The 2023 FIM E-Xplorer World Cup was the inaugural season of the FIM E-Xplorer World Cup, an off-road series in which teams of one male and one female rider compete on electric motorcycles. MIE were the winning team of the series.
Calendar A provisional calendar was issued by the FIM in November 2022. It consisted of 6 rounds: Barcelona, Spain; Crans-Montana, Switzerland; Vollore-Montagne, France; an unspecified location in the US; Busan, South Korea and an unspecified location in Asia. The Korea round was subsequently dropped, and then the US and Asia rounds were dropped in favour of a double header at Capo Teulada, Sardinia which was run in conjunction with the penultimate round of the Extreme E series.
Round Date Location 1 13 May Barcelona, Spain 2 24 June Crans-Montana, Switzerland 3 29 July Vollore-Montagne, France 4 16 September Capo Teulada, Sardinia 5 17 September
Teams and riders Team no. Team Bike No. Female rider Rounds No. Male rider Rounds 1 MaddWill powered By EBMX EMBX 90 Sandra Keller All 260 Robbie Maddison 1 260 Dyland Woodcock 2 22 Jonathan Rossé 3–5 2 MIE EMX Powertrain 11 Sandra Gomez 1–2,4-5 99 Jorge Zaragoza All ? Jess Gardiner 3 3 Gravity KTM ? Elodie Chaplot 1 918 Camille Chapelière All 412 Tjasa Fifer 2 ? Kiara Fontanesi 3–5 4 Seven-EM Stewart Racing Electric Motion ? Louise Forsley 1 17 Spenser Wilton All 7 Vilde Marie Holt 2–3 ? Mette Fidje 4–5 5 EM Factory Team Electric Motion 4 Marine Lemoine All 47 Christophe Bruand All 6 FLAIR Riders EMX EMX Powertrain 6 Rihanna Buchanan 1-3 2 Jack Field All ? Gabriela Seisdedos 4–5 7 PCR-e Performance Sur-Ron Factory Racing Sur-Ron 9 Chloe Richardson All 3 Sam Winterburn All 8 Fanatics Sur-Ron 412 Tjasa Fifer 1, 4-5 292 Álex Gamboa 1 24 Loane Sudan 2 35 Brett Baldwin 2 ? Rosie Rowlett 3 ? Dylan Woodcock 3–5 9 Backyard Racing Lizcat Factory Team Lizcat 62 Michelle Zünd 2-3 32 Alex Andreis 2–5 ? Nieve Holmes 4–5 Sources: Key Regular rider Replacement rider
Teams Backyard Racing Lizcat Factory Team Lizcat are a Swiss company that specialises in converting motocross bikes to electric power. Initially entered as a 'wild card' team in Round 2, Backyard competed in the rest of the season.
EM Factory Team EM Factory Team is the factory team of electric motorcycle manufacturers Electric Motion.
Fanatics The team was set up to enable emerging talent to be able to race in the series. The riders for the opening round, Alex Gamboa and Tjasa Fifer, were selected in a contest held on FIM E-Xplorer's Instagram account. Fanatics set up a fan experience at the Barcelona where fans could race against the professional riders participating in the series.
Flair Flair Action Sports, led by World Freestyle Trials Champion Jack Field, put on freestyle trials shows at Australian motorsport events. Partnered by EMX, Field and his wife Rhianna Buchanan entered the 2023 E-Xplorer World Cup.
Gravity The team is owned by Kevin Guyard and has Patricio Tarradas Bultó, a member of the Bultaco family, as team manager.
MaddWill powered By EBMX Led by Australian motorbike stunt rider Robbie Maddison, the team was one of the first to sign-up to the series. As well as being team manager Maddison also rode in the series.
MIE Set up by Midori Moriwaki in 2018, MIE entered the 2019 World Superbike Championship as a satellite Honda team. In 2023 they also entered the Supersport World Championship and, partnered with EMX Powertrain, they entered the E-Xplorer World Cup.
PCR-e Performance Sur-Ron Factory Racing British motorcycle tuning company PCR Performance entered the competition as the official Sur-Ron team. Seven-time British Enduro Champion Derrick Edmonson is the team manager.
Seven-EM Stewart Racing The team, one of the first to sign-up to the series, is led by motocross champion James Stewart. The team's name reflects Stewart's sportswear brand, Seven.
Venues
Barcelona, Spain The event took place at the Polea Camp, the family home of the Bultaco family. Within the grounds is a permanent motocross facility. The event included dirt track and dual slalom-style races.
Crans-Montana, Switzerland Located in the Valais Alps, the long course runs along a ridge between Cry d’Er and Bella Lui. It has eight obstacles.
Vollore-Montagne, France Staged in the mountain forests of the Auvergne region of central France, the course was challenging, narrow and winding with tricky obstacles and large jumps. The trophies for the event were chainsaws painted gold, silver, and bronze.
Capo Teulada, Sardinia The course in the Italian Army's training grounds is long.
Results and standings + Points system Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Points 25 20 16 13 11 10 9 8 7
Position Team BAR CRA VOL SAR 1 SAR 2 Points 1 MIE 1 1 3 2 2 106 2 Gravity 8 4 1 1 1 96 3 MaddWill By IXS 6 3 2 3 3 78 4 EM Factory Team 2 5 5 6 6 62 5 SEVEN-EM Stewart Racing 5 2 8 5 5 61 6 PCR-e Performance Factory Sur Ron Team 3 6 6 8 8 52 7 Backyard Racing Lizcat Factory Team 7 7 4 4 44 8 FLAIR Riders EMX 7 8 9 7 7 42 9 Fanatics 4 9 4 9 40 Sources:
References
External links