Guy Martin is hoping to achieve 300mph on his turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa but this time he's going to have some competition.

Five Teams Hoping to Break 300mph on Their Motorcycles

With the car land speed record standing at 763.065mph and Bloodhound SSC looking to raise that to 1000mph (if it ever manages to turn a wheel in anger again), reaching 300mph on a motorcycle might seem a little tame.

The current motorcycle land speed record (LSR) stands at 376.36mph, set by Rocky Robinson riding the Ack Attack cycle in 2010 at Bonneville. While that machine was a pure streamliner, using twin Suzuki engines, with all the space of the Bonneville salt flats in which to accelerate and - more importantly - brake to a stop, there is a bunch of guys (pun intended) who are aiming for 300mph on recognisable street machines at the Elvington airstrip in the UK.

One of these is serial thrill-seeker Guy Martin, ex-Isle of Man racer, TV presenter and truck mechanic. Seemingly ready to throw his leg over anything, he revealed his challenge back in 2019, but something called Covid-19 put a spanner in the works. That didn't mean that the attempt was abandoned, just delayed and, now, Martin and his turbocharged Hayabusa is ready to get going again.

This time, however, he won't be alone. There will be a total of five challengers, including Martin, aiming for the 300mph mark.

Outwardly, the turbocharged machine Martin will be riding might look like a Suzuki Hayabusa but, in reality, it bears little in common with its road-going donor. About the only thing that remains identical between road bike and record machine is the bore and stroke, giving a capacity of 1340cc. Power is said to be over 830bhp, so definitely not standard!

The chassis is also completely new, with an extended swing arm and the bodywork is even more slippery than the 'Busa's original aerodynamic body. Up to this point, Martin has achieved 270.965mph but all involved know that attaining that magical 300mph figure will require more than simply twisting the throttle harder and further.

At the recent test at Elvington, Martin was regularly posting speeds in the 220mph range but now the pressure is not only coming from within the team but from a slew of challengers, all aiming for the magical 300mph.

Martin's 'Busa was built by Jarrod Frost of Holeshot Racing and he was at the test with his own machine. His day nearly ended in disaster when a rear tyre blew while he was travelling at 240mph. The rear of the bike was smashed to bits as he successfully brought the bike to a stop riding on the bare carbon-fibre rear rim.

He too has recorded a near-270mph time, while Philipe Le Peru has been consistently setting times in the 250mph range. The other two challengers are Steve Bland and Becci Ellis.

The current record for production-based machines stands at 296mph, set by American Bill Warner in 2013. Sadly, he was killed on a later attempt to beat his own record. This will have done nothing for the confidence of the current crop of challengers and it is clear that the 300mph barrier is not to be taken lightly.

The other problem facing the teams is the venue being used for the attempt. Elvington is an ex-RAF air base in Yorkshire, used during the second world war as a bomber base and subsequently by the U.S. Air Force, who built the 3-mile long runway in the 1950s.

The runway is long enough for motorcycles to accelerate from 0-300mph, although that leaves precious little room for stopping at the other end. Another problem is that, due to its length, the wind can be blowing in one direction at one end and completely the opposite direction at the other end.

The challenge, therefore, is very real and is most certainly not a case of simply accelerating as hard as the rider can and going as fast as possible. The wind resistance at those speeds is enormous and any instability will result in a monumental crash.

No firm date has been given for final attempts and, for now, it seems as if all the teams involved are working through carefully planned testing programmes.