Himmelmann takes e-Power win

Under sunny skies and over a rolling landscape filled with greens and yellows, the German round of the FIM e-Power started with Matthias Himmelmann (Munch Racing) on his TT-E1 motorcycle, leading Thomas Mertens with the second Munch-TTE2 machine, the latest model and readied the evening before the practice sessions, Alessandro Branetti (eCRP) and Alexander Scholz on the 2010 Munch model. Branetti took the lead after the first lap but with only a victory in mind, Himmelmann regained the going into the third lap. Meanwhile, newcomers Mertens and Scholtz settled into third and fourth position while becoming more and more familiar to riding with electric power. At the front, Himmelmann and Brannetti continued their quest for the prize, challenging each other and posting quick laps lap until two laps later, Alessandro Brannetti had to stop his Agni powered motorcycle and dismounted quickly whilst firefighters put out the flames of the right motor. Alessandro mentioned calmly, although very disappointed due to the incident, that he'd never been on a burning motorcycle, still wearing his leathers that showed some light burn marks on the right leg... During this drama, Matthias Himmelmann continued and set the fastest lap time on lap 8, crossing the line in first position. Team mates, Thomas Mertens followed in second, 22 seconds down while Alexander Scholz had to manage the last two laps at reduced speed, coaching his motorcycle and a with battery on empty and to an early end. Next FIM e-Power round: 23-24 July, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (USA), Pictures supplied by Mark ''Wally'' Walters.