TV speedster Guy Martin has smashed his own record for driving a tractor at the fastest speed ever – more than 135mph.
Fearless Guy drove the specially-designed JCB tractor at breakneck speeds, smashing the previous record, that he set earlier this year, by more than 30mph.
Fastrac Two tractor was designed and built by a team of engineers in Staffordshire, and secured the title at Elvington Airfield, in York.
The story of the tractor’s development and assault on the record was told in a TV documentary on Channel 4 tonight (Sun) called “Guy Martin: The World’s Fastest Tractor”.
The achievement comes after JCB set its first Guinness World Record for the fastest tractor at Elvington in June 2019, when Fastrac One, reached a speed of 103.6mph.
JCB then embarked on an ambitious plan to break its own record and developed Fastrac Two – which was ten per cent lighter and was even more streamlined than its smaller brother.
Fastrac Two hit an astonishing top speed of 153mph on its way to recording an average of just above 135mph at Elvington.
Both tractors are based on a standard, commercially available JCB Fastrac which is sold around the world.
Guy said: “This has been a massive undertaking, and I was a very small cog in the machine.
“It was a proper privilege to be involved, so thank you very much to JCB and its engineering team, who got this tractor absolutely spot-on.
“Just look at it, they get stuff done, it’s brilliant, and it is still a working tractor, so could have gone straight into the nearest field to put in a shift.”
A team of JCB engineers has been working on the project to further develop the tractor over the last few months and today JCB Chairman Lord Bamford praised their “amazing achievement”.
He said: “When we reached 103.6mph with the Fastrac in the summer, I was convinced we could go even faster, and the JCB team has risen to the challenge by setting this new record.
“It’s an amazing achievement delivered by a young and enthusiastic engineering team.
“Everyone involved should be very proud of the part they have played in showing off British engineering at its very best.”
The record-breaking attempt was overseen by Guinness World Records.
It confirmed the JCB Fastrac completed two runs, in either direction through a speed trap set 1km apart, within the allotted time, to set the new record.
JCB Chief Innovation and Growth Officer Tim Burnhope said: “Fastrac One really proved to us that there are no limits to what a young and dynamic engineering team can achieve.
“So we pushed boundaries and ideas, and looked at all aspects of the project to find solutions and make improvements.
“The biggest challenges have included aerodynamics, reducing weight and improving performance – getting a five-tonne tractor to safely reach 150mph, and stop again, is not an easy task, but we’re all so proud to have not only reached these goals, but to have exceeded them.”
