British bike land speed record goes… and we've got video

THE British motorcycle land speed record has been shattered after Jarrod ” Jack ” Frost ran his turbo Suzuki Hayabusa through the timing lights at an average of 222.19 mph.

The record was broken at RAF Woodbridge, in Sussex, as part of an event run by MCN’s sister publication Performance Bikes, which gave speed freaks from all over the country the chance to run their machines down the 2.5-mile strip.

At first, it looked like the previous record of 213mph – set by Dan Harris on a nitrous Hayabusa – would stand when most of the day went by with no official runs. The wind was over the set limit of 20mph, voiding any record bid.

But as it died down in the evening, Frost went straight out on to the quarter-mile section which had been measured out on the runway and completed his two runs at an average 217mph.

This in itself was a new record, but the next day was even better. On his first run, Frost averaged a staggering 227mph through the lights. He said: ” That sounds quick, but it was actually hitting over 240mph in places. I reckon it will hit 250mph, no problem. ”

Frost shot his turbo ‘Busa through the flying kilometre in record time, too – 220.37mph, to be precise.

But these weren’t the only two records to bite the dust that weekend. Eight others also fell. TTS Tuning owner Richard Albans broke the 2000cc class records for both the flying quarter-mile and flying kilometre on his 1668cc nitrous-equipped Hayabusa, with average speeds of 198.30 mph and 206.04mph.

That sounds impressive, but Albans was disappointed. He said: ” I was out for the absolute record, but too much fiddling with the ignition left me with a wrecked combustion chamber. I was hoping for more. ”

Devon bike dealer Mike Grainger accounted for two production records on near-standard bikes. He covered a kilometre at an average 187.48mph on a Kawasaki ZX-12R and the standing-start kilometre at an average 118.47mph on yet another Hayabusa.

The lion’s share of the remainder were taken by speed freak Alan Tinnion on a stock R6. He took the standing start quarter-mile with an 11.01s average time and the flying quarter at an average 156.71mph. The standing and flying start kilometres also fell with a 109.30mph average and a 156.06mph average.

Read all about the day in the September issue of Performance Bikes, on sale August 3.