· Lee Johnston rides a 111.62mph lap to his second TT podium

· Fourth for Guy Martin on a 109.717mph lap, just shy of the 110mph mark

· "It's a proper fast bike, the Victory boys were spot on," says Guy.

Isle of Man: Victory Racing is celebrating its first ever TT podium after Lee Johnston rode a 111.620mph lap in the SES TT Zero race to take third place.

Lee had ridden increasingly fast laps on successive practices throughout the week as he became more familiar with the intricacies of riding the electric motorcycle - including energy management and regeneration - and he rode his fastest lap to date just when it mattered most.

Lee said in the winner's enclosure: "Yeah, awesome to be back on the podium again.

Every time we go out, we're getting faster. Think we had a little bit of battery left, so maybe could have went a bit quicker. Fair play to the Mugen boys, but at the end of the day they have been coming here for three years and in their first year they did nowhere near 110mph, so credit to the whole Victory team, it's an absolutely awesome job. The bike's so fun to ride because it's so small, I really like riding it."

Guy Martin, who stepped in to ride the bike on behalf of the injured William Dunlop, placed fourth, an equally sweet victory in some ways, as he had only ridden two practice laps on William's No.6 machine ahead of the race. He also posted his fastest lap of the week in the race - a 109.717mph, just shy of the 110mph mark.

"It's a proper fast bike," he said. "The Victory boys judged it just right to use up all of the battery power as I came over the finish line. I'd need more time to properly get my head around it but I'm happy to have had the opportunity to ride it."

For a first time at the TT, the team is thrilled that it has been so competitive. Victory Racing Team Manager, Brian Wismann, said: "I'm feeling very, very good. It was good day for Victory Racing on our first ever time at the TT. We accomplished what we set out to accomplish... got on to the podium, but we also got a 111mph average in our first ever TT Zero race. Speeds were good, the bikes were good and reliable, they looked great out there. I'm just very, very pleased with all the hard work the team's put in and the work that the riders have done to get the bikes round here so quickly."

Out of the 10 electric bike teams on the Isle of Man, seven of them entered the race. It is also the very first time that five teams have all achieved over 100mph laps under race conditions and is a strong indicator that electric racing technology is being taken seriously by many brands in anticipation of mass-produced consumer vehicles.

For Gary Gray, Director Motorcycle Product for Victory Motorcycles, the third and fourth place is reward for all the efforts the brand is putting into proving 'American Performance'. He said: "I couldn't be prouder of the team for putting a bike on the podium the first year out and for building the fastest American electric bike ever at the Isle of Man TT. I promised we would be competitive and beating nine of the 10 teams proves American performance."

A podium result has also excited Parker, the makers of the GVM electric motor that propelled the bikes. Parker's US-based strategic account manager, Kevin Holloway said: "We are proud of the entire Victory Racing team for the third and fourth place finishes in the TT Zero. Everybody worked so hard and we exceeded our expectations by setting an American lap record today."

Victory Motorcycles has been flexing their muscles in various forms, not only by entering the Isle of Man TT, but also by taking part in professional drag racing, running a stunt team and fielding an entry in the iconic Pikes Peak Hill Climb with a prototype and custom race machine built by Victory Racing and Roland Sands Design, all which will be exhibited at the upcoming American Victory Rally in Denver and Colorado Springs, CO. http://www.victorymotorcycles.com/en-us/event/2015-additional-eventsamerican-victory-rally-june

· Dunlop and Johnston achieve greater than 100mph laps

· First ever lap of the TT course for Victory's electric bike

· Further technical insights revealed by the team

Victory Racing has successfully run its two electric bikes in the first practice session ahead of the TT Zero race. Six racers set out on the practice, but only three crossed the line with two of those being the Victory machines. Getting both bikes back across the line and breaking past 100mph laps on Victory's first ever attempt at the TT is a promising start.

William Dunlop and Lee Johnston rode one lap of the course, achieving average lap speeds of 104.185mph and 105.185mph respectively. Both riders also achieved 140mph through the Sulby speed trap - testament to the GVM Parker electric motor installed in the machine. This means that Victory is now the third electric bike team to ride over a 100mph lap, something made extra special by doing this on their first ever time around the course. Dunlop completed his lap in 21:43.717 minutes while Johnston was 12 seconds faster, crossing the line after 21:31.322 minutes.

Team manager Brian Wismann (also head of Brammo product development) said this first ever ride of the course by Victory Racing follows a trouble-free week of testing at Jurby. "We are really pleased with our first lap of the TT course," he said. "Both riders executed clean laps to bring a pair of 100mph+ laps on our first attempt. The reliability of the bikes has been a strong suit for us so far at the TT, with very few technical problems arising. I think this will continue to be a key to being able to translate practice results to race results when it counts."

Following this first TT Zero practice session, William Dunlop and Lee Johnston were in extremely high spirits. Both said the bikes were extremely stable and coped well with the lumps and bumps of the TT course, something they hadn't been able to replicate in testing.

Lee Johnston said as he climbed off the bike: "That was just mint. It feels so stable, it's unbelievable. It's just so peaceful. No revving." Asked what the stand out memory from his lap was, he said: "I think just the peace and quiet and riding over the mountain, no noise and seeing the sunset. Everything's just mint on the bike and I'm ready to go and do more." Lee also joked: "There were load of people waving iPhones at me when I was out on the course - I wondered if they wanted me to recharge them."

William Dunlop was equally happy with the bike saying that: "It was surprisingly good, it really was, and I'm not just saying that. It was good to just go out and not have wrestle something with 200hp around.

The next TT Zero practice session will be on Saturday June 6th with the third and final practice session on Monday June 8th . The TT Zero race takes place at 10:45am on Wednesday June 10th.

TECHNICAL INSIGHTS

Following these promising results, Victory Racing has also revealed more technical insights in to the electric bikes.

The bike has two Brammo batteries that sit on top of one another and they actually form part of the bike's structure. These batteries sit between a twin-spar aluminium frame with Ohlins suspension connecting the swingarm to the top of the batteries. While Brammo has created the batteries, the electric motor is made by Parker, joining Victory Racing's TT effort under the name of Parker Racing.

The configuration of the Parker GVM motor and the swingarm is unique too. On conventional petrol-fuelled bikes the swingarm pivot point is behind the engine, but on these electric bikes, the swingarm pivot point is in front of the motor. The bikes have chains and sprockets, but the chain is set tighter than on conventional motorcycles because there is so much torque from the Parker GVM motor.

The wheels are forged magnesium, made by OZ Racing and mounted onto Ohlins forks with World Superbike-spec Brembo brakes. The rider's display is a Motech ADL3, which also records all of the data from the electrical system.

Victory Racing has also announced that the bikes have an in-built energy recovery system, with the rate of this recovery configurable. Interestingly, Lee likes to run his recovery setting some 30% less than William's. As Brian Wismann explains: "This is all down to riding style and how each rider prefers to get the chassis set for the entry to the corner. William prefers the regenerative braking to be higher to help slow his entry speed."

Victory Racing has also announced that the electric bike has actually been developed for short circuit racing, so the longer 37-mile length of the TT course poses a greater challenge for setting the bike up for the race. While there are the two Brammo batteries linked to the Parker GVM electric motor, extra 'boost modules' can be added or taken away from the bike. Brian explains: "Here at the TT we are running the highest number of boost modules that we can carry. With these on board we can make 165bhp at the rear wheel. The bike in its TT configuration weighs around 220kg, but in its short circuit configuration drops to 209kg."

Part of the challenge, says Brian Wismann, is to get the maximum amount of power from the batteries and boost modules while making sure the bike has enough electrical energy to get around the course.