X Games ban electric motorcycles
The X Games is an extreme sports event that has been held since 1995, featuring various extreme sports – including BMX, skateboarding and rally cross in the summer, and snowboard competitions, freestyle skiing and snowmobile events in the winter. In both cases, there is also freestyle motocross, a discipline that does not involve a race but artistic jumps and tricks.
According to several media reports, the rules for the upcoming Summer X Games were recently presented to participants. And they prohibit the use of electric motorcycles. “Our current competition formats are designed around the performance and characteristics of traditional gas-powered bikes, which remain the global standard for elite competition,” portals such as Jalopnik quote from the rule book. With the goal of “maintaining a level playing field and delivering the best experience for both our athletes and fans,” electric motorcycles are banned because it is seen as an unfair disadvantage for drivers with petrol-powered motorcycles to compete against electric ones.
Last year, three riders competed in the X Games on electric motorbikes from the Spanish brand Stark Future, with two of them taking home medals. The strong acceleration of the electric drives is said to have allowed manoeuvres that would not have been possible with classic motorbikes due to the short approach to the jumps.
The organiser does acknowledge the technological advances in electric motorbikes. “We’ll continue to monitor the evolution of the sport and assess how new innovations fit within X Games competitions,” the letter states. Nevertheless, the decision was made against progress and in favour of the past. It should also be noted that the event in Osaka, Japan, in June is taking place in a hall – where avoiding toxic exhaust fumes would be obvious.
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