Land speed rider to take on Isle of Man TT racer Peter Hickman in 400mph world record battle
Peter Hickman will face stiff competition in his bid to set the outright motorcycle land speed record, with current world record holder Rocky Robinson also eyeing up a 400mph run.
Rocky Robinson, the current holder of the outright motorcycle Land Speed World Record with a speed of 376.363mph, is aiming to set the first-ever 400mph run this week.
Robinson will be riding the TOP 1 Ack Attack Streamliner, the same machine he set the previous record with in 2010.
The TOP 1 Ack Attack Streamline will be powered by twin Suzuki Hayabusa engines, forming a combined capacity of 2,598cc.
Robinson’s machine started life in a workshop in San Jose, California, back in 2003, and has since risen to land speed folklore.
However, Robinson is set to face stiff competition in his bid to set a 400mph average speed by none other than 14-time Isle of Man TT winner, Peter Hickman.
The road racing legend will be racing the GreyhoundLSR machine, which is also powered by Suzuki’s Hayabusa engine platform.
Hickman has been heavily involved with the GreyhoundLSR team throughout the design and build of the bike, in anticipation of this week’s attempt.
While Hickman has some of the most prestigious accolades in racing to his name, Robinson is a specialist when it comes to this discipline, having also broken the outright motorcycle land speed record prior to 2010; 2006 to be exact.
Mike Akatiff, the designer and builder of the TOP 1 Ack Attack Streamliner, believes conditions in Bolivia are favourable for a world record attempt.
“We have some real high hopes for Bolivia with that bike and with the conditions there,” Akatiff was quoted by the FIM. “Rocky wants to be the first to go over four-hundred miles an hour and we’re there to support him one-hundred per cent.
“We had no fifth and sixth gear [in 2010] – it would not shift – so I don’t know how we got the record. We actually went four-hundred miles an hour right at the very end, but it’s only the timed record that counts. We have sensors on the bike that tell us the speed and we showed a little over four-hundred, but it doesn’t mean anything, it wasn’t recorded. That’s why we’re going back.”
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After graduating with a sports journalism degree, Robert joined Crash.net to lead the WorldSBK coverage in 2021, while also providing MotoGP coverage. Fulfilling that role for over three years, Robert was able to put his knowledge about all things racing to the test.
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