Electric Motorcycle World Speed Record Attempt Postponed

 

 

Venturi Group – to which electric motorcycle constructor VOXAN MOTORS belongs – postpones its electric motorcycle world speed record attempt. The motorcycle made in Monaco wantet to attempt to set a new world speed record in its category (beating the existing record of 330 km/h) in Bolivia this July. Now, the Monaco-based VENTURI Group is applying the health directives issued by the Monegasque Government.

Since 2000, Venturi, the group specializing in constructing high-performance electric vehicles, has embarked on a number of extraordinary challenges, transforming the improbable into reality.

Two decades ago, Monegasque entrepreneur Gildo Pastor bought the French automobile manufacturer Venturi and immediately took two crucial strategic decisions, focusing on electric engines and moving the business to n°7 rue du Gabian, in the heart of Monaco’s Fontvieille business district. Today, the address remains the same, with Venturi’s teams moving eleven storeys down to occupy 1,100 square metres on the ground floor of the Gildo Pastor Center.

The move to the new facilities represents a key moment in Venturi’s history. Twenty years after forging a new path as one of the pioneers of electric mobility, Gildo Pastor is injecting new energy and dynamism into a firm that has now established itself as a group. The new HQ is home to Venturi, Voxan Motors (electric motorcycle manufacturer), and the Formula E team ROKiT Venturi Racing.

The development teams responsible for the VOXAN Wattman motorcycle, which has just completed its initial on-track testing, are now confined to their homes.

Given the Covid-19 pandemic, it is no longer possible to continue fine-tuning the machine on-track, and the electric motorcycle world speed record attempt, originally planned to take place in Bolivia in July 2020, has been postponed, announced Venturi.

“The health and safety of my teams is paramount,” said Gildo PASTOR, President of VENTURI Group. “In view of the current health crisis, I have put in place the necessary measures. All of my staff, whether they are attached to Venturi North America (Columbus, Ohio) or to the headquarters in Monaco, are now working from home.”

“We will establish a new calendar of operations as soon as the health situation allows it, and announce the new operational arrangements for this project, which is very important to me personally.”

Just one month ago, Voxan Motors moved into the new Sacha Lakic-designed headquarters in Monaco.

Venturi chose to invest in a property to match its lofty ambitions for the celebration of its 20th birthday. Located in the Fontvieille business district, the new headquarters is now home to Venturi, Voxan Motors (electric motorcycles) and ROKIT Venturi Racing, the Formula E team.

Sacha Lakic, the creator of many iconic Roche Bobois pieces, designed both the Venturi and Voxan models. Sasha Lakic was entrusted for the architectural design of this new head office. The new facilities, spanning an area of 1, 100m2, consist of three spaces: a showroom, a space specifically for the Formula E team-equipped most notably with a Grand Prix simulator- and, finally, mechanics workshops and electronics laboratories.

The general atmosphere of this space is elegant, warm and industrial all at once, including raw concrete and visible air vents with contrasting wooden ceilings made from pine and fir, as well as with soft lighting and bamboo features.

Staying in line with the aesthetics and ambiance, furniture with sleek and fluid contours were carefully selected to reflect the movement and vibration of the materials.

Through the imposing bay windows is a showroom, in the centre of which sits Venturi’s flagship creation: the VBB-3, the fastest electric vehicle in the world (549 km/h). The 11-metre-long “rocket” forms the backbone around which the Venturi and Voxan workstations are laid out.

Behind the space occupied by Venturi and Voxan is the second part of the building, home to ROKiT Venturi Racing, the Formula E team helmed by Susie Wolff. At the heart of this “competition” department is the team’s simulator, a vitally important piece of kit so central to race preparations that the rest of the facilities were designed around it.

The third and final area of Venturi’s new headquarters houses the mechanics workshops and electronics labs. In this part of the building, hidden away from view, the Voxan Wattman is currently being built.

“In 2000, when I converted Venturi to electric engines, few believed we had any chance of succeeding. Twenty years on, we are going from strength to strength, and moving into a space that will enable us to grow even further. I am delighted to see the Venturi, ROKiT Venturi Racing and Voxan Motors teams working together in an environment worthy of our ambitions,” said Gildo Pastor, President of Venturi Group.

“I created a place that embodies Venturi’s values: innovation, technology, and environmental responsibility. This space is a place for sharing and exchanges, that symbolises our vision of mobility, our know-how and our future challenges. The eco-designed layout creates an atmosphere conducive to collaboration and creativity. It’s a unique place in which the most ambitious projects will gradually come to fruition,” said Sacha Lakic, Venturi Group Designer.