Following four full days of motorcycle competition at the Bonneville Salt Flats, the 2021 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials (BMST) concluded with a half-day on Thursday, September 2, giving racers the opportunity to wrap up their efforts and make final attempts.
For many teams, even five days on the salt isn’t quite long enough, but for two FIM Land Speed World Record holders, it was just long enough to etch their names in the history books. Ralph Bohnhorst and Jaron Tyner succeeded in their efforts on the final day at BMST, with each earning an FIM Land Speed World Record aboard their sidecar machines.
The FIM’s own Ralph Bohnhorst, a competitor at BMST, set a new record with his sidecar streamliner. The team put in a lot of work throughout the week as they dealt with tuning issues on the turbocharged Hayabusa-powered machine, but in the last hour of the meet, they managed to put together two consecutive runs averaging 201 mph (323 km/h) to bump up their own record in the category, and surpass the 200 mph mark.
“It was a busy day because we had engine problems with the gearbox,” Bohnhorst explained. “Our tuner repaired it overnight so it was good that we could go out today and get a last-minute record, but a record is a record.
“We are happy and we are in the 200 club now, so it’s something for the books,” Bohnhorst added.
As for Jaron Tyner, it was his turn aboard a different sidecar motorcycle—a Ducati 999-powered motorcycle that was ridden to an FIM Land Speed World Record yesterday by his cousin, Tyrell Marlow. With the partially streamlined record already in hand, it was Tyner’s turn to make an attempt in the non-streamlined category. Surprisingly, he was able to surpass Marlow’s speeds and average two runs for a 104 mph (168 km/h) FIM Land Speed World Record, but only after receiving a little bit of tuning help from their teammates who were a few thousand miles away.
“It was a really good ride. We worked really hard on it all week trying to get it to run,” said Tyner. “The guys from PE Electronics came through for us when we couldn’t get it working today. We made our down run and qualified, brought it in to impound, the guys from PE were able to dial into the computer—from Ohio—and actually move the cursor around on our computer here on the salt flats and adjust the tuning on the bike while the FIM stewards verified everything. The result was our return run 20 mph faster than our down run and we set a new record.”
Jaron Tyner was racing for an open record, which meant he only needed to complete two runs of any speed to claim a record, but a true competitor always wants to put their best effort forward.
“You always want to make it better, you want to make it faster,” said Tyner. “So far we’re going the right direction. Maybe one day we’ll be able to play with the big boys like Hiro. He went super fast this weekend.”
Hiro Koiso ended the week with the fast time of the meet with his pass of 251 mph (404 km/h) on Day 3 of BMST on August 31. Koiso was lined up at the start early this morning in anticipation of putting in another fast run, this time with the nitrous system. But along with several other competitors, Koiso did not find the conditions he needed to complete an optimum run on the International course.
Jim Cole, who claimed an FIM Land Speed World Record of 212 mph (341 km/h) in the 1600 non-faired (naked) turbocharged class on Day 4, was looking for a repeat performance, this time with partial fairing. Cole put down a scorching 225 mph (362 km/h) pass to qualify for a return run, but when winds picked up, it prevented him from reaching the speed needed to claim his second FIM Land Speed World Record of the week.
As is always the case, there are plenty leaving the salt with a taste for more speed, and innovative ideas of how to get there in the future. As Dale Zlock, two-time FIM Land Speed World Record winner at the 2021 BMST meet, pointed out, land-speed racing is the definitive space for true creativity and innovation in motorcycle racing. We look forward to the next FIM Land Speed World Record event and seeing the innovative machines, and inspiring stories that always come from it.
Story and Photography by Jean Turner