Triumph & Bonneville – the sequel

Historic British marque returns to speed venue this week in quest for the motorcycle land speed record

The words ‘Triumph’ and ‘Bonneville’ have been inextricably linked for years due to the bike that blends those names. But now the British marque is going back to its roots and is once again aiming for the world speed record on the historic Utah salt flats with the Infor Rocket Streamliner, piloted by none other than our own, Guy Martin.

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This Triumph-powered streamliner has recently undergone tests in the hands of Guy at Bonneville, where he set the time for the fastest ever Triumph of 274.1mph in advance of this week’s full-on attempt at the current motorcycle speed record.

The current record of 376mph was set in 2010 and is held by the ‘Ack Attack’, a twin Suzuki Hayabusa-powered streamliner piloted by American Rocky Robinson. 

Triumph became associated with speed records and Bonneville in the mid ’50s and ’60s following four record-breaking projects – Devil’s Arrow in 1955; Johnny Allen’s legendary ‘Texas Cee-gar’ in 1956 (which inspired the road-going Triumph Bonneville); Joe Dudek’s 1962 streamliner; and Bob Leppan’s 1966 ‘Gyronaut X-1’. Together, with the exception of a brief 33-day period, Triumph-powered machines were ‘The World’s Fastest Motorcycle’. Part of the teams motivation, they say, is to restore that title.

 

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