Kingston University’s electric motorbike team have undergone an intense programme in an attempt to make the podium at the final round of the TTXGP season at Brands Hatch on October 2-3, writes James Buckfield.

The seven-man team have tested Peter Williams electric motorcycle at the Kent track’s shorter Indy circuit and team sponsor Life Batt’s Bruntingthorpe proving ground to squeeze out the last drops of performance the team has yet to discover.

Technical director Paul Brandon, a lecturer at Kingston, said: “We will definitely be going for third place – that would be a great and deserved result for the work the team has put in.

“There is around 10 per cent performance left in the bike that we are not getting the benefit of, so we testedthe bike as much as possible.”

The team, formed partly of Kingston engineering students, have also been working flat out at its development centre, inside the university’s Roehampton Vale campus, on Friars Avenue, on the team’s dynamometer, which simulates the motorcycle’s performance to predict how it will behave on a track.

Engineering student Owen Gilbert said: “It is so different to a petrol bike – what you find on the dynamometer generally translates onto the track with this electric bike.

“But there is no substitute for track testing.”

Rider Adam Palfreman is confident that the team can unlock the speed that has held it back so far in the four-round championship and get among the leaders, who include Isle of Man TT rider James McBride.

Palfreman, 28, said: “Finishing on the podium will certainly be a challenge because everyone knows Brands Hatch so well.

“The other four teams have encountered quite a lot of mechanical problems while we have only had a couple, so that’s encouraging.”

Palfreman lies fifth in the championship standings, six points behind third place.