| Type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry |
|
| Founded | June 2009 |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | Via San Quintino 43, , |
| Website | www |
Tacita is an Italian manufacturer of electric motorcycles with corporate headquarters in Turin, Piedmont. [1]
The brand was founded in June 2009 by Pierpaolo Rigo, a former rally raid rider from nearby Santena, and his partner Dinamaria Ollino. [1] [2] It is named after Tàcita, the Roman goddess of silence. [3]
In 2019, the company moved from its Pisa workshop [1] to a new factory in Poirino, [4] and launched an American branch with offices in Miami, Florida. [2] In addition to motorbikes, the company offers the T-Station, a trailer equipped with solar panels for both transportation and charging. [5]
The company uses two main platforms, T-Cruise and T-Race, which are each iterated into submodels for different styles of travel and racing.
The T-Race also forms the basis for the Aero prototype introduced in 2017 by Italian coachbuilder E-Racer Motorcycles. [6]
Tacita's competitive debut took place at the 2012 Merzouga Rally in Morocco. [5] It marked the first appearance of an electric motorbike at an African desert rally raid. [3] In 2020, the company announced that the T-Race Rally would be the first fully electric motorbike to take part in the Dakar Rally, as part of a projected four-year commitment to the race. [7] However, its inaugural showing was limited to a 20-kilometer, non-ranking special stage held on the final day of the race in Qiddiya. [8] After cancelling their participation in the 2021 and 2022 editions, Tacita indicated that they hope to return to the event in 2023. [9]
The T-Race Cross also features in the FMI Ice Trophy, an Italian flat track ice racing series. [10]
The Dakar Rally or simply "The Dakar", formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally", is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal. Security threats in Mauritania led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, and events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America. Since 2020, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia. The event is open to amateur and professional entries, professionals typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.
KTM is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and motorsports brand which traces its foundation in 1934 as Kronreif & Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. Today, Pierer Mobility AG operates as the manufacturer of KTM branded motorcycles; whereas KTM Fahrrad AG operates as the manufacturer of KTM branded bicycles.
The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme is the global governing/sanctioning body of motorcycle racing. It represents 119 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six continental unions.
Gas Gas is a Spanish motorcycle manufacturer established in 1985 by Narcìs Casas and Josep Pibernat in Salt, Girona. The company specializes in off-road motorcycles for trials and enduro competitions. Gas Gas was purchased by KTM motorcycles in 2019. After selling to KTM, Spanish motorcycle manufacturer Rieju bought the right to produce old Gas Gas off-road models.
Stéphane Peterhansel is a rally driver from France. He holds the record for wins at the Dakar Rally, with 14 victories. In the 2018 season he was one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total.
Garelli Motorcycles was an Italian moped and motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded in 1919 by Adalberto Garelli.
Sherco is a French motorcycle manufacturer, specialising in off-road motorbikes. Sherco are best known for their extremely popular trials bikes, although they also make enduro and supermoto bikes.
Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), also known as Honda Racing, is a motorsport subsidiary of the Honda Motor Company formed in 1982. From its founding, the company was initially solely responsible for Honda's motorcycle racing activities, before the brand's automobile racing activities were integrated into HRC's scope of work on 1 April 2022. The company combines participation in motorcycle races throughout the world with the development of racing machines. Its racing activities are an important source for the creation of technologies used in the development of Honda motorcycles. HRC activities include sales of production racing motorcycles, support for satellite teams, and rider education programs.
The motorcycle sport of racing includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.
Rally raid is a type of off-road motorsport event for automobiles and motorcycles. Along with shorter baja rallies, rally raid constitutes cross-country rallying. Both the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) co-organise a common World Rally-Raid Championship featuring the same events for both types of vehicle.
The 2009 Dakar Rally was the 31st running of the Dakar Rally. In addition to motorcycle, automobile, and truck categories, a separate quad class was added for the first time. The race began on 3 January 2009, and took place across Argentina and Chile. The rally was for the first time to take place outside of Europe and Africa as the location was changed by organizers due to concerns about possible terrorist attacks that resulted in the moving of the 2008 edition from the traditional route to Senegal to Hungary and Romania in the spring.
Francisco "Chaleco" López Contardo is a rally raid, motocross and enduro motorcycle rider and Off-road racing driver. He's a veteran of the Dakar Rally, having made his first start on a bike in 2007, and has since then won the rally the UTV/SSV (T4) class in 2019 & 2021; and, in the Lightweight Prototypes (T3) class in 2022.
Laia Sanz Pla-Giribert, also known as Laia Sanz, is a Spanish sportswoman. She is a fourteen-time Women's Trial World Champion and ten-time Women's Trial European Champion in outdoor motorcycle trials.
Toby Joseph Price OAM is an Australian off-road and enduro motorcycle racing world champion. He lives in Gold Coast, Queensland, and rode for the KTM Off-Road Racing Team until October 2015. He now represents the Red Bull Factory KTM Rally Team.
Annie Seel is a Swedish-born motorcyclist who set a world altitude record for climbing to Mount Everest base camp on a motorcycle in 2003. Seel climbed to 5,305 m (17,405 ft), breaking the existing unofficial record by more than 50 m (160 ft), using a 20-year-old Honda XL250 fitted with ice tires. This limitation was due to the Nepalese government's ban on the importation of new motorcycles to Nepal. This record has now been broken by another female rider, Tamsin Jones, who with her partner, Craig Bounds, climbed to 5359m in 2011.
Olivier Pain is a French rally-raid and enduro motorcycle rider, best known for his participation in the Dakar Rally.
Ricky Brabec is an American professional off-road and rally raid motorcycle racer. He is prominent for being the first American competitor to win the motorcycle division of the Dakar Rally in 2020.
Paulo Gonçalves was a Portuguese rally racing motorcycle rider. He won the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship in 2013.
Ross Branch is a motorcycle racer from Botswana. He lives in Gaborone, Botswana and rode for the KTM Off-Road Racing Team until October 2018. He now races for the Hero MotorSports International Rally team. Branch is the first Dakar stage winner from Botswana, after taking the stage 2 victory at the Dakar Rally 2020.
Gerard Farrés i Güell is a Spanish motorcycle racer of enduro and rally raid. In rally raid, he finished in third place in the motorcycle category in the 2017 Dakar Rally and won Baja Aragón in the same category in 2007, 2009 and 2011.
