Isle of Man TT Legend Is Aiming to Become The Fastest Motorcyclist...In The World

Peter Hickman definitely has the need, the need, for speed.

Photo by: GreyhoundLSR

By: Jonathon Klein

Oct 9, at 7:36am ET

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Peter Hickman is a man who knows true speed. After all, he's a 14-time champion around the Snaefell Mountain Course at the Isle of Man TT, the 37-mile motorcycle street course that is the stuff of absolute legend. To race there requires zero fear. To win requires something else entirely. And to win as many times as Hickman, well, the man is freakin' supernatural.

Hickman still holds the lap record for the race course with a time of 16 minutes and 36.115 seconds. That comes to a whopping 136 mph average over a road that's barely as wide as some heavy duty American trucks and lined with trees, stone walls, bushes, drunk motorcycling fans, and mega drops. If you want to not blink or breathe for 16 minutes straight, I suggest you watch Hickman's onboard.

But the man ain't happy with just his eight titles or lap record. He wants more. More speed, more power, more everything, and he's aiming to do that behind a custom-built land-speed record motorcycle. And he ain't in it just to come second place, him and the team at GreyhoundLSR are aiming to become (extremely Jeremy Clarkson voice) the fastest motorcyclist...........in the world.

Hickman only joined the endeavor earlier this year, with the GreyhoundLSR team aiming to go above 400mph. And they've already been working, scanning Hickman's body against a bare-metal buck so that the engineers on the project can get that data into a CFD analysis and basically build the upcoming motorcycle around him, sacrificing not an ounce of aerodynamic drag in their quest. How Hickman will hop onto the bike is still anyone's guess, as that's a tight fit from the released image.

According to the press release at the time, Hickman stated, "Throughout my career, I've always been drawn to projects that push boundaries and GreyhoundLSR are doing exactly that. That's why I'm super excited to join the team and see what we can achieve together." GreyhoundLSR's Adam Fawsitt, who co-founded the operation, added, "Peter is one of the few riders in the world with the experience, skill set and mindset for this challenge. It's not just about speed, it's about pushing limits and that's why we're delighted he's a part of the team."

What do you think?

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Now what about the details? There aren't many at present, but the record attempt will be done at the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa. Moreover, they aren't the only ones chasing 400mph, as the Ack Attack crew are also looking to do 400mph on two wheels in a purpose-built streamliner motorcycle. Who will get there first? We'll have to wait and see, but next year's record attempts are shaping up to be truly gnarly.

I can't wait.