Brutus V2 Rocket on launch pad

The famed Pikes Peak International Hill Climb – aka ‘The Race to the Clouds’ -- will be held on Sunday, June 29 in the Rocky Mountains, just west of Colorado Springs.

The startline has an altitude of 2862 metres, and climbs to a finish line at 4300 metres – a height where most petrol-powered engines are really in struggle town compared to electric fare. With that in mind, all interest will again be on the battle for outright honours in 2014, with two electric modified machines up against a plethora of normal fare from Ducati, Kawasaki, Yamaha, MV Agusta, BMW Motorrad and Suzuki.

The entry list includes Frenchman Bruno Langlois, who was second in the 2013 event on a Ducati Multistrada behind the Lightning Electric Superbike of Carl Dunne. Langlois will ride a Ducati Panigale in 2014.

One of the two modified electric bikes is the eye-catching Brutus V2 Rocket (attached), which has a nine-inch motor extracting power from a 11.5-kWh lithium battery pack. Performance is keen: 130hp and 233Nm, with cooling via air intakes in the front fairing. Top speed is in excess of 240km/h, although acceleration is the most important attribute on the twisty mountain climb. However, it could do some damage at the Bonneville salt flats!

The Brutus – of which a street version will be made available at a later date -- will be ridden by American Jeremiah Johnson, while the second modified electric bike for Pike Peak is the Japanese-made Mirai, to be piloted by Yoshihiro Kishimoto. A Zero FX will compete in the electric production class.

Other classes include 250cc, quad, sidecar, side-by-side (exhibition only in 2014), vintage, lightweight, middleweight and open.

In 2013, Dunne completed the course in 10 minutes, 0.07 seconds at an average speed of 115.7km/h – a race record.