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Triumph Motorcycles will attempt to set a new outright motorcycle land speed world record today, weather permitting.
Piloted by TT star Guy Martin, the Triumph Infor Rocket Streamliner will return to the famous Bonneville US salt flats in Utah, and attempt to beat the current 376.8mph record speed on an 11 mile-long course.
The practice week, which ended with a 274.2mph run in August, demonstrated that both the Triumph and rider Martin are ready for the task ahead, the team believes.
Martin’s time in the streamliner saw him master the controls of the 1,000bhp machine very quickly - achieving all of the goals set by crew chief and designer Matt Markstaller and his team.
Markstaller said: “When chasing a record such as this on two wheels the conditions have to be the very best they can be, to give us the greatest chance of achieving the speeds we require to set a new record.”
The Triumph Infor Rocket features a carbon Kevlar monocoque construction with two turbocharged Triumph Rocket III engines producing a combined 1,000 bhp at 9,000 rpm.
The motorcycle is 25.5 feet long, two feet wide and three feet tall. Powered by methanol fuel, the bike is competing in the Division C (streamlined motorcycle) category.
Triumph has a history of breaking the land speed record, holding the title of ‘World’s Fastest Motorcycle’ between 1955 to 1970. The record-breaking Triumph Streamliners included: Devil’s Arrow, Texas Cee-gar, Dudek Streamliner and Gyronaut X1, the former achieving a top speed of 245.667 mph (395.28 km/h).
Today’s record, held by Rocky Robinson since 2010 riding the Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner, sits at 376.363 mph (605.697 km/h).
The iconic Bonneville name was conceived following Johnny Allen’s land-speed record runs at the Salt Flats in September 1956, when he reached the record-breaking speed of 193.72 mph. The first T120 Bonneville model went on sale in 1959.
