Never on to shy away from a challenge, Guy Martin is working with a team of engineers to break the existing motorcycle land speed record, which stands at 376mph. Initial shake-down runs have gone well.

First Successful Test Runs for New LSR Contender

Back in September, we brought news of the latest land speed record contender being built in the UK and to be piloted by Guy Martin. (See here for the story.)

The next chapter of that story has just been written as the machine, called 52 Express, has completed initial test runs at Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire, in the north of England.

Powered by a 50 year-old Rolls Royce helicopter turbine engine, day one of the test saw the machine run at 90mph, allowing it to lift of its stabilisers and run on two wheels for the first time and allowing the team to dial-in braking distances & establish baseline readings, whilst carrying out a number of systems and safety checks.

On day two, the speed was upped to 150mph, which might sound underwhelming but in this game, it is all about incremental increases to make sure that the team have got their sums right and that safety can be guaranteed at every step.

The current record stands at 376.363mph, set by Rocky Robinson in his Ack Attack machine on the Bonneville salt flats in 2010. Martin and the Project 100 team are aiming for 400mph, to mount a serious attack on the record at the Uyuni desert in Bolivia in 2023. We'll bring you the news from every step of the attempt.

The images accompanying this story were taken by Rod Kirkpatrick and F-Stop Press