South Bay Triumph sets 5 new land speed records on a Thruxton!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Bonneville Salt Flats; September, 2009

Team SOUTH BAY TRIUMPH set 2 FIM records and 1 AMA record at the Bonneville Salt Flats with their turbocharged THRUXTON. They also ran a street legal, normally aspirated Thruxton fitted with Pirelli racing tires and set 2 FIM records for the 1000cc Forced Induction Twin-Cylinder Unstreamlined class.

The rider for both bikes was internationally syndicated journalist and noted roadracer, Alan Cathcart.  According to Cathcart, “The PIRELLI [Diablo] tires gave us great traction, especially in the first two days, which many teams sat out due to slippery conditions after rain the week before.  This allowed us to get in several setup runs which put us ahead of the [other] bikes we were up against, and after the salt dried out in the Speed Week sunshine, we had great grip and good stability from the Pirellis, even with the violent pickup of the Turbo through the gears when it comes on full boost. The PIRELLI tires were a key contributor to our record-breaking speeds.” 

The temperatures were in the 90s and the corrected elevation was 7500ft. As the week progressed, different Pirelli tires were used and boost pressures raised to attain higher speeds. Matt Capri’s AMA record was raised to over 165mph average, with a best run of 171.65mph.

Five records, in as many days, establish the reliability of the new TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLES and demonstrate the expertise of Team SOUTH BAY TRIUMPH. Thanks to team chief Matt Capri, techs Jeff York and Jerry Augusto, pit techs Roger Allen Russell and Andrew Cathcart,  Carlos Schmidt of TPUSA, Linda Capri,  John Perkey and Veronica Angell of South Bay Triumph.

(CORRECTED - We apologize for the previously error in the sponsor listing)

Thanks to all of our sponsors, Triumph Performance USA, PIRELLI TIRES, IHI Turbos, Haltech EMS by Sara and Adam from BMI USA, WebCam, Rick Kemph Cylinder Heads, Fast Freddy HeadWorks, Techna-Fit, RK Chains, Torco Oil, MC Tireworks, Mickey Cohen Motorsports, Gene Thomason Racing, Phil Hawkins Photography (www.ishootfromthehip.com), and a special thanks to all of our loyal customers who have supported us for the last 14 years.

Congratulations to everyone – truly a job well done!