Speed challenger to return

Hamilton's Alan Thoresen has vowed to return to the salt flats of Utah next year for a third crack at an elusive motorbike land speed record.

The Hamilton speedster was aiming to top 315km/h (196mph) on board his Kawasaki bike, dubbed Black Thunder. Throughout Speed Week at Bonneville, Thoresen said he got as fast as 293km/h (182mph) but started to experience wheel spin, even at such high speed.

Speaking to the Waikato Times from Nevada, Thoresen said to fail two years in a row was "disappointing", but the hunger to succeed was still there.

"We didn't get to the speed we wanted. We tried a lot of different setups with the bike; more weight, less weight, different body positions, but we couldn't stop the wheel spin."

It cost Thoresen about $30,000 to take part in the annual event, and he was already planning his return.

"We went better than last year and we've come away with some more ideas with what we want to do next time. There was a strong Kiwi contingent there this year and we got good support from the Americans as well."

Hamilton man Andrew Rea drove his modified 1934 Ford roadster to a category land speed record at Speed Week, setting a record of 180.627mph (290.763km/h). The previous record, also set by Rea at this year's Speed Week, was 168.737mph (271.558 km/h).

- © Fairfax NZ News