It was sad to see how several media were covering up this accidental fire at the racing weekend of the Open eSBK in Assen (The Netherlands). “Are electric motorcycles dangerous?” “Electric motorcycles can burn …” Gentlemen of the press, everything can burn, anytime … This was an unfortunate incident on an electric racing event, a new sport discipline that is still relatively young and in full development. Accidents on or next to the racetrack happen all the time … It’s sad to hear that someone got injured but according to the latest information he will fully recover within a few weeks.

Nova Electric Racing and Open eSBK have each send a press release with some clear information.

NOVA Electric Racing

Last weekend we were present at the GAMMA Racing Day to participate in the Open Electric Superbike Competition. Although the weekend started really good on Friday, by passing the technical test and having a great first free training, the day ended unexpectedly.

While doing maintenance to prepare for the second training, our motorcycle caught fire. As we take safety very seriously, we followed all the safety procedures correctly, but due to a very unfortunate combination of unforeseen events, a fire got ignited. Unfortunately, one of our team members got injured during the incident, but according to medical specialists he will fully recover within a few weeks. Thanks to the quick response of the team, the emergency services and our colleagues from the neighbouring stands, the fire was contained rather quickly and no severe damage or harm was done.

We will need some time to recover from the experience, but for now we are really happy that everyone is fine. Although it’s sad that we didn’t get to see the NovaBike 10 race at its full potential, we look back with pride on this bike that we built, the moments that we got to see it racing on the track, our team, our riders and all the knowledge and experiences we’ve gained the past year. We are now analyzing in depth what caused this incident and with these lessons learned our new team will focus on making a new improved NovaBike 11.

We would like to thank the emergency services of the TT Circuit Assen, the medical personnel of the Martini Hospital, the organization of the GAMMA Racing Day and the organization of the Open eSBK for their very adequate and quick response to the incident. We are also grateful to our fellow electric racers for their understanding and help during and after the accident. And a warm thanks to our friends from Forze Hydrogen Electric Racing for looking after us and all their support.

Open eSBK racing weekend cancelled

The racing weekend of the Open eSBK has been cancelled after an unfortunate incident. An electric motorcycle of the ‘prototype class’ caught fire and two people were taken to hospital and treated for minor burn injuries. The bike could not be saved.

Thanks to quick and adequate reactions of the paddock staff, other teams, ontrack fire department and the organisations safety precautions, other material damages were kept to a minimum. Nevertheless, it was decided to cancel the rest of the Open eSBK race weekend.

Open eSBK: “We strongly sympathise with all people involved and the team, who lost their custom bike after a year worth of hard work. The racing industry is about pushing boundaries. Where electric road bikes have been safely out on the streets for many years now, electric racing is still relatively young and in development. The Open eSBK strives to facilitate electric motor racing in a manner as safe a s possible, and will continue to do so in the furniture. Despite all this, we are very glad that all involved are currently doing well. We thank all team, riders, and TT Assen circuit safety and medical personnel for their help this whole weekend and with this incident specifically.”