Max Biaggi breaks electric speed world record with Voxan

Former motorcycle world champion Max Biaggi has set eleven new world records in France aboard the specially-built electric Voxan Wattman. The team achieved a blistering speed of 408km/h.

Moncao-based Voxan originally enlisted Biaggi to pilot the Wattman in an electric world speed record attempt at the Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team were forced to delay the attempt, before deciding to proceed in France. The speed records were attempted between October 30 and November 1 at the Chateauroux airfield.

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The Voxan team achieved their primary goal of breaking the world speed record for ‘partially-streamlined electric motorcycles over 300 kilograms’ on October 31. With a speed of 366.94km/h, Biaggi smashed the previous record of 329km/h.

However, the Wattman actually reached an outright top-speed of 408km/h. This is because, in line with FIM regulations, the final speed is actually the average of two runs in opposite directions.

Another record that the team broke was the ‘non-streamlined’ world record. They removed the fairing on the bike and set a speed of 349.38km/h. The outright top-speed was 372km/h.

The other nine records broken included a mix of ¼ mile, 1 mile and 1km runs, with flying starts, standing starts, partially streamlined and non-streamlined. Many of these records were new, with no previous attempts.

French manufacturer Voxan was purchased by Monegasque company, Venturi Motors, in 2010. It released the original Voxan Wattman in 2013, which boasted 203hp and 200Nm. Venturi is also known for building electric speed-record cars.

The high-performance, speed record version of the Wattman was developed in Monaco in collaboration with Venturi North America and the Centre for Automotive Research at Ohio State University.

“Twenty years after buying Venturi, I am delighted that the group can now claim to have created the fastest ever electric vehicles on two and four wheels,” said Venturi president, Gildo Pastor. “Given the health situation, it hasn’t been easy, but thanks to the hard work and mentality shown by Max and my team, we proved ourselves up to the challenge.”

Biaggi was hesitant when first approached about riding the Wattman, but he was soon won over by the teams drive and determination. “They told me they wanted to flirt with 400 km/h on two wheels,” said Biaggi. “These records make me a happy, man! I’m proud of the team and delighted to bring these titles back to Monaco!”

The world records coincide with Venturi Group’s 20th anniversary, but the company has no plans to slow down, with Voxan set to take on more record attempts until the end of 2022.