The Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) has opted to cancel the Bonneville Speed Week for the second year in a row, delaying Triumph and Guy Martin’s bid to reclaim the motorcycle land speed record.

The SCTA cited poor conditions of the salt bed as the reason for the cancellation. Oddly enough, it’s the same reason that forced the cancellation of the event last year. According to the SCTA, president and race director Bill Lattin and Bonneville Nationals Inc. (BNI) chairman Roy Creel event spent the entire day on the salt on July 20 to determine whether there was enough suitable surface for the race course only to find out that the longest strip of salt that could support speeding vehicles was only 2.25 miles long.

It’s a good stretch, but not enough to meet the required 3-mile limit imposed by the SCTA. Worse, the current conditions at the Bonneville Salt Flats only allowed one course to be set, far less than the minimum of three courses that have been used in past events.

Multiple reports coming out of Bonneville also said that most of the six-mile area used as one of the main courses are either covered in mud or doesn’t have enough salt to sustain the level of activity needed during the event.

All the issues puts a significant safety risk over drivers and riders looking to break records->ke3224 during the Speed Week, thus forcing the SCTA to once again put the clamps on the event entirely.

Among the disappointed will be Triumph->ke1864 and Guy Martin, who are currently in the middle of preparations to break the existing motorcycle land speed record currently held by Rocky Robinson

With the event’s cancellation, the British bike brand will now have to wait another year to have a crack at Robinson’s record, which he set back in 2010 after clocking a top speed of 376.363 mph while riding the Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner.

Continue reading to read more about the Southern California Timing Association’s decision to cancel the Bonneville Speed Week.

Why it matters

It’s a huge blow for speed freaks all over the world who were keen on seeing land speed records fall at the Bonneville Speed of Week. In my case, it’s especially disappointing since I won’t be able to see Martin’s attempt to break Rocky Robinson’s motorcycle land speed record.

But forget about me. Can you imagine how disappointing it must be for Triumph knowing how far along it was in its preparations to bring the motorcycle land speed record back in its hands? All that work for nothing. Ok, not nothing, but I hardly think it serves Triumph and Guy Martin well knowing that they’re going to have to wait another year to try to break the record.

More so, the event’s cancellation is expected to affect almost 600 drivers and riders, many of who have already pre-registered for the event. Had the 2015 Speed Week pushed through, it probably would’ve been one of the largest events to take place in the iconic Salt Flats in history. But none of that matters now because the event’s cancellation has prematurely put an end to all the preparations being made by all these drivers and riders and their respective teams.

Hopefully, the conditions at the Bonneville Salt Flats improve in time for next year’s event. It’s not a coincidence that the past two cancellations have been caused by the same reason. If the same thing happens in 2016, then we all might have to start looking for another venue to host this event.

I hope that it doesn’t come to that, but for that to happen, it might be in our best interests to become more proactive in keeping the Salt Flats in as good condition as possible and not let further acts of degrading it happen again.