James Toseland to attempt to beat land speed record at Bonneville in 2014

Former two-time now retired World Superbike champion James Toseland will attempt to break the official world motorcycle land speed record in 2014.

The current record is 376.363mph (605,697 km/h) and is held by Rocky ‘Rocketman’ Robinson and Toseland who was forced to retire from motorcycle racing due to a career ending wrist injury, will try beat that record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September 2014.

The British rider has teamed up with the University of Derby and development of the machine development will be led by former GP and TT sidecar racer, Alex Macfadzean who held the first British bike land speed record of over 200mph.

“I am hugely excited about this record attempt but I’m under no illusions as to how difficult it will be. I’ve been racing motorcycles for most of my life but this means learning a completely new technique in order to pilot the motorcycle streamliner,” said Toseland speaking at theUniversity of Derby. “The team involved with the project are amazing and really know their stuff, so I know I’m in safe hands in terms of the development. We’ve been in discussions about this for several months, but at the University of Derby’s workshops I sat in the cockpit of the machine for the first time, so it now all seems very real. If successful, this will be a fantastic personal achievement but also a great accolade to bring back to the UK.”

For updates on the ambitious project just follow Toseland’s Twitter account.

Photo source | jamestoseland.facebook.com