MotoAmerica – Energica Motor Company

A journey for the ages.

Energica’s first full season in MotoAmerica’s Super Hooligan National Championship was nothing short of a success as it raised the bar of what an electric motorcycle can achieve against ICE motorcycles. Because it was never done before, not even on four wheels: an electric manufacturer had never dared challenging traditional racing vehicles at the track – let alone in a series sanctioned by an international federation.

But team Tytlers Cycle Racing and Stefano Mesa spearheaded this frontal assault aided by the PETRONAS iona liveried, KCC (Kit Corsa Clienti) equipped Eva Ribelle RS and Energica’s support squad, and wrote a key chapter in motorsport history, with one holeshot and a new lap record for electric motorcycles at Laguna Seca, followed by incredible second-place finish in race one at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.

You don’t believe us? Press the green button above and see for yourself. Because MotoAmerica’s Super Hooligan National Championship is streamed live on the promoter’s YouTube Channel and Facebook Profile, with each race available to watch on demand for FREE (check out each event section below for the links to the individual races).

In what was the debut season in the category for everyone involved (Energica, Tytlers Cycle Racing and Stefano Mesa himself), the #137 KCC Eva Ribelle RS and Mesa scored points in seven out of eighth races and never finished below P7, for a resounding fourth position in the final standings.

A journey that started with an idea, a one-event appearance at Laguna Seca the year before with a standard Eva Ribelle, which gave glimpses of what a successful 2023 campaign would look like.

MotoAmerica Racing Partners

The road to success

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The 2024 season debut

We are days removed from a top-ten finish by Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa aboard the Energica Eva Ribelle RS KCC in the second Super Hooligan race at Daytona, Round One of the season. The experienced and fast Colombian rider managed to significantly improve his lap-times compared to a year ago, but so did all the other main competitors.

The Daytona International Speedway – hosting the opening event of the year – is unlike anything else on a FIM-sanctioned championship calendar: in the MotoAmerica configuration it has a 3.51-mile (5.65 km) tri-oval course with infield curves. The seemingly endless straights (the front is 1,200 meters long and the “superstretch” is 910 meters) allow for a panoramic view from the grandstands. But it is the dramatic 31° high banking, originally designed for NASCAR, that is particularly intimidating to tackle on a motorcycle. Is it an easy track for electric? Perhaps not.

Motorcycle racing is the ultimate expression of competition: it is filled with adrenaline, excitement, challenges, joys and disappointment, and you hardly know which ones you are going to get on each occasion. A small technical issue, such as the one that prevented Mesa from finishing Race One, can also unfortunately happen.

Race 2 Link (YouTube)

The Ridge: a reminder of good things to come

MotoAmerica’s stopwatch was quite telling. Stefano Mesa’s fastest qualifying lap at The Ridge in 2023 was a 1:49.232, while this year he clocked in 1:47.947. We’ll do the math for you: 1.285 secs quicker. He was P6 on the grid one year ago, P7 this time around. Hence the gap to first place narrows down, however, the number of strong riders on competitive machinery grows.

And as a first-ever in Energica’s still embryonic Super Hooligan journey, the Pacific Northwest weather brought a surprise downpour not long before the start of Race One, which carried a bag full of unknowns as Mesa had never ridden the EVA Ribelle in wet conditions prior to Saturday. The encounter itself was more of a race for survival, the with 31-year-old Colombian making it to the finish line in eighth place, dodging the numerous crashes that occurred on the inundated course.

Mesa finished a fully dry Race Two in ninth place, after battling up to the finish line with Hawk Mazzotta. As the second round of the season draws to a close, there is much more to look forward to. Next on the calendar is the WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway (July 12-14), which brings fond memories of the first-ever hole-shot for an EV motorcycle in closed-circuit competition as Stefano stormed to P1 at the start of Race One.

Race 1 Link Race 2 Link (YouTube)

It finally happened

The Eva Ribelle RS KCC has once again proven to be a solid package, capable of consistently racing in the top ten in the Mission Foods Super Hooligan National Championship – against top-tier ICE manufacturers. It was evident at the Ridge a fortnight ago, and it was quite clear here at Laguna Seca. Racing is a competitive sport (no pun intended) and when there is a hiccup, there is also a chance to bounce back.

And so it happened that, after an eighth-place finish in race one, Stefano Mesa’s race was cut short due to a technical issue experienced just over half of the race, which is currently being investigated by the crew as we write this race report. The 31-year-old from Medellín, Colombia, was in the battle for eighth place until well… he wasn’t.

Solid progress building up to season finale

The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course made a long awaited, perhaps surprising appearance with MotoAmerica, after a decade of absence from national motorcycle series competition. Only a handful of current MotoAmerica riders (or perhaps less) have ever raced on the narrow and technical, twisty 3.862mile Midwest racetrack, which has a long history of two- and four-wheeled racing dating back to 1962.

It is of no surprise then that there was a welcome reception for the fans and the locals, who flocked to the venue for a weekend of racing (and camping, as the course is famous for excellent camper facilities with great views and plentiful shade) with friends and family alike. Given their relatively short history in racing, neither Energica nor team Tytlers Cycle Racing had ever turned wheels at this circuit, so it was a bit of a step into the unknown.

Nevertheless, the team’s only rider for the Super Hooligan National Championship, Stefano Mesa, had a chance to get to grips with the track on Thursday, albeit on TCR’s Supersport machine, before jumping on the powerful Eva Ribelle RS KCC to begin the penultimate event of the season.

The results went as follows: Mesa was tenth in qualifying, eighth in Race One and then tenth again in Race Two. As much as these results mirror in many ways those achieved in Laguna Seca five weeks prior, the gap to the frontrunners is getting slimmer, albeit not enough to get in the mix – not this at least – for podium contention.

When a new track arrives with no prior testing, set-up and feeling have to be built as the weekend progresses, with very little room for experimentation. If we throw in the notorious unpredictability of Midwestern summer weather, chances are that track-time will be further reduced. Which it happened, of course, as due to torrential rain Qualifying 2 was really of no use, causing the Sunday warmup to be replaced by Race One as the latter had to be postponed due the impracticability of the track.

In what was a race for adaptation, the Eva Ribelle RS KCC proved to be more than capable of solid performance throughout, with top speed matching the frontrunners and Mesa able to improve by one second his fastest race time across the two encounters (which ended up being separated by merely two hours).

Pure Performance at CoTA

The credits have rolled on the 2024 Mission Hooligan National Championship with the final two races of the season that took place at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas on September 14-15. Stefano Mesa scored a brace of ninth place finishes around the long and fast 3.426-mile circuit aboard Tytlers Cycle Racing’s #137 Eva Ribelle RS KCC (Kit Corsa Clienti), showing great speed in the early part of both encounters.

If we look deeper into the performance put together by the 31-year-old Colombian rider, we can see that his quickest lap time of the weekend was a 2:17.167 logged on lap four in today’s race two. This very lap-time would have been the fastest lap of any competitor in either of the two Super Hooligan races held at CoTA in 2023. To put this into context, Mesa’s best time in last year’s historical race one, second-place finish was a 2:20.648, so his time this year has improved by almost three and a half seconds.

Yesterday’s 2:17.464 set in qualifying 2 – which placed him in seventh position on the grid – would have translated in a front-row start for the #137 in 2023.

Every motorcycle racing season is a whole different story, and this couldn’t be any closer to the truth this time around. Series evolve, new players come in, new rules are introduced, so the variables are many and constantly shifting. But as the only EV entry in a field of otherwise ICE motorcycles, Energica can only be proud with the incredible steps forwards made in 2024 with the invaluable support of Tytlers Cycle Racing, Stefano Mesa, the whole crew, and our partners: PETRONAS iona, Siemens and Sonic Tools.

The Eva Ribelle RS KCC is still a fine example of what a street-derivative electric motorcycle is capable of in closed-circuit competition and as far as we’re concerned, we’ll keep working hard to make sure that all this knowledge is transferred to the roads for all of you to enjoy on a daily basis. After all, this is what racing is all about.

The final classification sees Stefano Mesa 9th with 58 points scored across ten individual races and a huge wealth of experience for everyone involved heading into the future. In this ever-accelerated world, Energica keeps the throttle wide open (and for good reasons!).

A big thank you to all of you, who keep showing an immense amount of support.