Risk and Reward at AFM Round 3
- Brian Wismann
- Jul 2
- 6 min read
The mental calculus required to run a high-performing race team, much less one innovating with a new powertrain, can be daunting. Knowing every component design or selection is critical to the performance of the system as a professional rider does his/her job of extracting the maximum the system will provide can be nerve wracking. Of course, we wouldn't be doing this if we weren't already inclined to push limits, but it's always with the belief that we have a reasonable level of control over the outcome, and more importantly, the safety of our race vehicles. When we debuted the new V3 evolution of our Lightfighter electric race machine at the Barber vintage fest last October, we had knowingly pushed those limits as far as we'd ever prefer by bringing a bike that had never turned a wheel on the track prior to the race weekend. Unfortunately, heading into AFM Round 3, we found ourselves in a similar situation with the latest V3 build.
A Brand New Bike
Given the success and promise of that first V3 prototype at the end of last season, we agreed to build 3 additional bikes for 2025, understanding they wouldn't be ready until mid-way through the season given long component lead times and the fact that the bike is entirely hand-built. The June AFM race was the target to have the new bikes ready, but as the event drew near, we realized we would either be relegated to racing only the bike we had OR focus on getting 1 of the 3 done in time for the race. The V2 bike we started the season with wasn't really an option either as it had been shipped out to Chicago for some PR events and track day duties with the Orange Cat team. So, we opted (naturally) to focus our efforts on getting one of the new bikes done in time for the race. We knew it would be tight, but we had to try...
Our new shop space in Oregon adjacent to Ely's machine shop is coming along nicely and with a big effort from Ely, Ryder, Tucker and I, we were able to leave Oregon with a mostly complete motorcycle after about 3 solid days of work. Lessons learned will certainly allow our next builds to go faster/more smoothly as well. Final wiring and bodywork fitment occurred back at our race shop in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Suter swingarm
Remember that Lightfighter was founded on the principal of good motorcycle geometry design leading to higher performance and tunability? From the start of the project, I have dreamed of using a "proper" GP swingarm and rear linkage to better understand the benefits these expensive marvels of engineering provide to our custom-built race chassis. Luckily, our friends at Orange Cat Racing have a similar appetite for learning along with a similar sense of justification for really cool race parts!
Two of the 3 new bikes will feature a Suter swingarm supplied directly from the storied GP bike manufacturer in Switzerland. The first of these made its debut over the weekend and set us on a new challenge to find a setup for a component that may take us another race or two to show its full potential. Not only is the geometry different, but so are the linkage ratio and method of adjustment. With the other, more fundamental issues encountered on the new bike over the weekend, we barely scratched the surface of finding an ideal setup.
2 Bikes, 2 Riders, 2 Different Programs
While Jayson and Brenden would be running in the same races, the focus for our 2 pro riders over the weekend couldn't be more different. Brenden was continuing to push the bike he took to victories and lap records at the previous round, while Jayson would have shakedown and development duties on the new bike.
We started our event slowly with a practice (track day) on Friday. The track day provider was kind enough to have a dedicated "R" class for the racers there for the weekend. Our first issue cropped up with some of the limited gear oil run in the motor/gearbox unit showing up in the belly pan. A quick drop of the battery was required to find the root cause and get the bike ready to ride again. With that resolved, we thought all was well, but we were wrong...
Problem #2 cropped up with a scary moment for Jayson as the bike cut-out on him while in the middle of the fast final corner leading onto the front straight. His catlike reflexes and a bit of luck were on his side to prevent a crash. Ultimately, we determined that the new water pump I had spec'd for the new bikes was underperforming and not providing the flow rate required for the inverter to avoid hitting its protection shutdown temp. A bonzai run down Interstate 5 from Ely had a new (old revision) pump in our hands by the end of the day Saturday, but we lost a bunch of setup time for Jayson and missed the Superpole race, which meant he started at the back of the grid on Sunday. More critically, we impacted his confidence in the bike, never a good thing when you're asking a rider to push the limits. Our recovery was swift and I'm happy with how the team performed under pressure, but we owe Jayson a much more reliable bike he can push on next time out!
It was still cool to see both bikes go past on the front straight together. Interestingly, the chain routing and newer motor/gearbox unit on Jayson's bike had a slightly different sound than Brenden's...
While Jayson and team were just trying to find a baseline and chase gremlins out of the new bike, Brenden's focus was entirely on using the existing bike that he had come to terms with in Round 2 to push for race wins and fast laps - which is exactly what he did!
With the help of the Orange Cat Racing team, Brenden was charged with finding a direction to improve rear drive grip and feel. This involved changes to the shock length, valving, and linkage to balance the squat ratio, wheel rate, and shock travel. Brenden was able to clearly identify the changes made and used the improvement to drop a second from his fastest lap from Friday to Saturday and then another second on Sunday. His effort and data will help us transfer this positive direction to the new bike for the next race.
Brenden currently leads both the Formula 2 and Middleweight Superbike championships with AFM with all of those points scored aboard the Lightfighter. With his double victory in the 4-lap sprint on Saturday and 8-lap endurance race on Sunday along with a strong 2nd in Middleweight Superbike, the dream of an electric championship remains alive with 2 more rounds to go...
In the final race of the weekend, the LF riders were able to battle head-to-head on a clear track with Josh Hayes on his MotoAmerica BPR Yamaha R9 Next Gen Supersport bike. The two were pretty evenly matched in the first couple of laps with Brenden pulling out the fastest lap of the race (and a new LF record) in lap 2 while chasing Josh down. In the end, our riders finished in 2nd and 4th, but we got some great data and know where we can focus for further improvements.
It was an action-packed Round 3 for the full Lightfighter and Orange Cat Racing team. We had some victories and battled a bit of adversity, but everyone came together to keep the program moving in the right direction. It was certainly a risk to bring a brand-new build to race in its first track event, and we could've ended up on the wrong side of that equation, but it worked out. I couldn't be prouder of what this team continues to accomplish as we prove the performance potential of the true "Next Gen" Supersport machines...;)
Would love to hear what changes you made in V3 vs V2. Love following the project.