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Guy Martin, Triumph Seek to Break Record at Bonneville

Guy Martin, Triumph Seek to Break Record at Bonneville

Triumph Motorcycles today confirmed that it will return to the Bonneville Salt Flats this month with iconic racer Guy Martin and attempt to break the motorcycle world land speed record.

The current record stands at 376.363 mph, which Triumph says it hopes to overcome with its purpose-built 1,000hp Triumph Infor Rocket Streamliner. Isle of Man racer, TV presenter, and all-round cool dude Martin will be at the helm of the vehicle.

Guy Martin
Guy Martin

The team had hoped to tackle the record last year but were foiled when bad racing conditions forced organizers to cancel the 2015 Bonneville Speed Week. This year’s races will be the first since 2013.

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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, 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall. Powered by methanol fuel, the bike is competing in the Division C (streamlined motorcycle) category.

“I can’t wait,” Martin said. “The Triumph engineers have built an amazing machine, giving us the very best chance to beat the two-wheeled land speed record.”

Bonneville Salt Flats
Bonneville Salt Flats

Triumph has a history at Bonneville, as the name of its most famous model suggests. 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.

Since then, Triumph has produced a number of record-breaking streamliners, including: Devil's Arrow, Texas Cee-gar, Dudek Streamliner and Gyronaut X1.

The current land speed record is held by Rocky Robinson. It was set in 2010 with Robinson riding the Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner.