Triumph confirms new land speed record attempt at Bonneville

Guy Martin will be riding the purpose-built Triumph Infor Rocket Streamliner in an attempt to break the current land speed record at Bonneville salt flats.

Triumph Motorcycles has announced that it will attempt to break the motorcycle world land speed record in August 2016. The British brand is all set to return to the famous salt flats of Bonneville, USA, where it will take a crack at the current record of 605.697km/h. Triumph will be using a purpose-built motorcycle, called the Infor Rocket Streamliner, for the task at hand, ridden by Isle of Man TT star, Guy Martin.

Breaking land speed record is no cakewalk, but Triumph seems undeterred since the machine they’ve built to take on the Bonneville flats packs some serious punch. For starters, it features a lightweight and rigid carbon Kevlar monocoque construction. Next up is the engine – actually, there are two of those. The powertrain here uses two Triumph Rocket III engines which are turbocharged to produce 1,000bhp @ 9,000rpm. Running on methanol fuel, the motorcycle will enter the competition in Division C (streamlined motorcycle) category.

Commenting on his participation, 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.”

Triumph and Bonneville salt flats have a history that dates back to 1955. And if you don’t already know, Triumph’s iconic ‘Bonneville’ range is named after the salt flats when Johnny Allen broke the land speed record in 1956 by clocking 311.7km/h on the flats. Triumph also held the title of "World’s Fastest Motorcycle" at Bonneville between 1955 and 1970. Triumph is now looking forward to claim the title back once again and will try to better Rocky Robinson’s record run of 605.697km/h from 2010.

Also read: Triumph T120 & Street Twin Comparison