Whissendine motorcycling trio celebrate land speed records

Ian Arnold, Patrick Bramman and Richard Scott took on the challenge on the runway at Kendrew Barracks, in Rutland, riding a 125cc machine.

It came almost three years to the day after the trio achieved 18 records for the 80cc motorbike category.

The latest records, which they set on April 14, had not been challenged for more than half-a-century .

The bike had to be ridden continuously for 12 hours, with less than an hour of idle time being allowed for rider changes, refuelling and any repairs.

Fortunately, the bike ran faultlessly apart from a puncture blowing out a tyre at nine hours, which required a rear wheel change, but the three friends still finished the challenge with less than 40 minutes idle time being incurred.

Ian, who prepared the mildly-modified 1999 Aprilia 125cc with a full current MOT and road tax, said the achievement owed more to ‘reliability than outright speed’.

He told the Melton Times: “The challenge ran from 7am to 7pm and at the runway the temperature was minus one when Patrick set off as the first rider.

“The temperatures didn’t break double figures for the whole day, so with the wind chill factor of the bike it was certainly numbingly cold.

“But the result brought much needed cheer in these Covid-restricted times.”

The 18 new records set by the trio range from the 10km to 1,000km and one-hour up to 12-hour records - in total, nearly 1,200km were covered using over 30 gallons of fuel.

The achievements still need to be ratified by the Auto Cycle Union, the official motorcycle record authorising organisation.

If the records are confirmed the three friends will be able to celebrate holding 36 British land speed records.