An attempt at the land speed record by a Triumph streamliner that was postponed a year ago is to go ahead this month.
TV star and road-racing ace Guy Martin has long been signed up to pilot the Triumph Rocket III Streamliner. He was supposed to have a go at the 376.363mph record last year, but weather and injuries conspired to prevent it. First the legendary Bonneville Salt Flats were waterlogged, preventing running during the usual record breaking season. While the team looked for alternatives, Martin was injured in the Ulster Grand Prix and the attempt was postponed.
This year, Bonneville conditions appear to be good and Martin is fit, so the team has confirmed that an attempt will take place.
The bike is powered by two turbocharged versions of the Rocket III’s 2.3 litre triple running on methanol. Each makes 500bhp, giving the bike a total of 1000bhp. They’re fitted in a 25.5 foot long carbon-fibre machine that’s just three feet tall and two feel wide. Sponsorship comes from Belstaff and cloud computing provider Infor.
Of course Triumph has a special connection with Bonneville, which even gave its name to the firm’s most famous model. Between 1955 and 1970 the firm held the land speed record for all but 33 days. At the end of that period, 245mph was enough to clinch the record. Now it’s 376.373mph and held by Rocky Robinson and the Hayabusa-powered Ack-Attack streamliner.
Guy Martin said: “I can’t wait to take the Triumph Infor Rocket Streamliner onto the salt at Bonneville for the first time this summer. The Triumph engineers have built an amazing machine, giving us the very best chance to beat the two-wheeled land speed record.”
As with other land speed records, the outright record for bikes is getting increasingly difficult to break. The current record has stood since 2010 and came after a five-year period when the record bounced between Ack-Attack and rival Chris Carr in the BUB Seven streamliner. Before then, the record had stood for 16 years from 1990, when Dave Campos reached 322mph, beating a speed set 12 years earlier in 1978 when Don Vesco hit 318mph.
More details at the attempt’s official site here
