With competitors delighted to welcome back Bolivia Speed Trials (BST) to the calendar after a three-year absence, the fourth edition of the event on the Salar de Uyuni \u2013 the world’s largest salt flat \u2013 saw one new FIM-accredited Land Speed World Record (LSWR) being set despite the challenging conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jamie Williams set a new open record on his fuel-injected 420hp turbine-powered MTT superbike of 134.783mph (216.912km\/h). Arriving in Bolivia hoping to push his record over 200mph (321.869km\/h) on the thirty-kilometre course with his Rolls Royce helicopter engine-powered machine, Williams came up short of his pre-event target due to the high winds that prevailed but still raised his record to 175.628mph (282.647km\/h).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Williams was, however, unsuccessful in his attempt to break his 2023 record of 193.273mph (311.043km\/h) with his 1350cc turbo-charged Suzuki Hayabusa-engined snowmobile and Dan Smith failed to break the record of 229.859mph (369.922km\/h) for his turbo-charged Suzuki GSXR 750.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attempt that grabbed the biggest global headlines was by America’s Rocky Robinson who was aiming to break the FIM-accredited absolute motorcycle Land Speed World Record of 376.363mph (605.698km\/h) he set sixteen years ago in the TOP 1 Ack Attack Streamliner with the ultimate goal of pushing it above the 400mph (643.738km\/h) mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Powered by twin Suzuki Hayabusa engines with a combined capacity of 2598cc, the TOP 1 Ack Attack Streamliner started life in San Jose, California, in 2003. With Robinson at the controls it has broken the record on three occasions, most recently in 2010 when the current benchmark was set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After overcoming problems with the supply of fuel to the Salar de Uyuni and waiting for favourable wind conditions, sixty-five-year-old Robinson managed a number of runs, including one in excess of 300mph (482.803km\/h), although an ongoing technical issue \u2013 suspected to be electrical \u2013 affected acceleration and ultimately resulted in the team leaving South America with the record still standing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We made several attempts,” said Robinson, “but mechanical and electrical gremlins were too difficult to overcome. I did make one compete run, but it was not without issue. The motors would not run cleanly, it popped out of gear part way down the course and we were making probably around only forty to fifty per cent power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s always fun to run over three-hundred miles per hour and, as disappointing as it was, it’s still a thrill that so many people will never know or understand. Unfortunately, we were never able to overcome the salt gremlins [although] we leave still holding the world record on two wheels, but faster is always better…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike Akatiff, who organised the BST and designed and built the TOP 1 Ack Attack Streamliner, has not given up on the 400mph goal and the eighty-one-year-old Californian is considering a radical revamp of his motorcycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We plan to convert the bike to electric,” he said. “We originally removed the motors in 2019 in preparation for that conversion and had the drivetrain designed, but that did not happen.
We’re now looking for someone who is very knowledgeable about electric motors, batteries and controllers.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With competitors delighted to welcome back Bolivia Speed Trials (BST) to the calendar after a three-year absence, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[311,353],"class_list":["post-17371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-motorsports","tag-superbike"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t