MERZOUGA, MOROCCO – Canadian rally rider Patrick Trahan was hired by the Italian factory Tacita to help it introduce the new generation of electric enduro motorcycle, the T-RACE.
Tacita decided to test the T-RACE in the hardest form of racing there is — African Rally Raid. The Tacita race team competed at the Merzouga Rally from November 3-9 in Morocco.
“We want to make sure we have a bike that will be reliable and can endure anything for our customers. Merzouga was a good opportunity for us to test our T-RACE. Our objective was to gather as much data as possible rather than results and it is mission accomplished,” explained PierPaolo Rigo, co-founder of Tacita.
The company asked Trahan a multiple Dakar (2000, 2001 and 2010) and rally pilot to be its rider for this occasion.
“I was honoured to test the T-RACE,” Trahan said. “I feel like I am part of a new beginning. I have raced many rallies here in Merzouga, but it is the first time that I raced in silence. It was such a new experience for me; I realize that I could concentrate more on my riding. The T-RACE performs like any rally bike and was very good to ride in the dunes.”
The T-RACE was the first electric enduro to start a rally raid race. It was the first electric motorcycle to traverse the entire Merzouga dunes and finally it was the first to finish and actually win the NEW ENERGY category.
The “Tacita project” (from Tàcita, Latin name of the Roman goddess of silence) springs from the desire to develop a motorbike which respects the environment and the people around us, yet is also a true machine for real off-roading.
After 20 years of passion for both recreational and competitive enduro, the Italian company’s goal was to build the perfect electric enduro bike, which would be able to compete with traditional motorbike combustion engines, giving sensations of pure riding, yet being moved by a completely “zero-emission” electric engine.
Tacita was born in 2009, to produce a new enduro bike with electric propulsion performance, while being innovative and unique in its characteristics.
The T-RACE is the first motorbike built step by step for enduro riding, and for the pleasure of feeling as one with nature, yet its name also stands for the gentle “trace” left by the bike.
The aims of the project are zero emission, no noise, respecting the planet – along with ergonomics, high-tech features, long-range riding, and great fun; all packed in a “legal on/off-road” enduro bike. Satisfying these requirements was at the heart of the Tacita project.
For the first time, sharing the trail with other hikers or bikers without disturbing wildlife and without noise and pollution, has become reality.
–From Tacita
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