IT’s fair to say the Isle of Man punches well above its weight in motorsport and this was never more evident than when a small team of amateurs went to Bonneville salt flats in America last year and smashed not one but two land speed records.
Now the team, known as the Lonan Gentlemen’s Fellowship (team name - cricket and straw boaters) is planning to make the return journey in 2014, taking two bikes with them and with their sights firmly set on more world records.
Stuart Harvey – day job a landscape gardener and crew chief last year to rider Richard Barks – is to ride one of the bikes in 2014.
Fellow team member Paul Hodgson is building another bike using a Yamaha frame and engine as a base, which he will ride.
‘The event is called Speed Week and it’s billed as the fastest race on earth,’ said Stuart.
‘Last year’s event was fantastic because in addition to the two records we were also accredited as the most successful motor cycle rookies in the history of Speed Week (next year is the 100th event/year): apparently no new team has ever gone away with two trophies after their first attempt!
‘We were also the first production based 500cc motorcycle to top 200mph on the salt flats: they were almost hoisting us in the air.’
In temperatures of 52 degrees centigrade and 4,500 feet above sea level, the Fellowship’s bike took the speed record in two different classes at 188.7mph and 303.3mph. Cooling was a major challenge and ice was packed into a special dummy compartment which formed part of the bike’s tank to help with this.
‘Ice is hard to come by in quantity but the hotel had ice machines which people used for their drinks. We were filling containers full of ice using the ice machines - it took about an hour to get the amount we needed each time so I don’t think we were popular with the other guests!’ he said.
The team is hoping to raise funds for next year’s return trip and to this end it is asking for sponsorship in return for a newly designed tee-shirt and certificate of sponsorship as well as subscription only content on the web and access to a dedicated members’ area to find out more about the project, progress, and join in with discussions. To find out more, see www.bonnevillelandspeed.org
‘We want to shamelessly plug that!’ said Steve.
