If speed is your passion, then Bonneville Speedway in the Utah desert must certainly be your Mecca
A site where land speed records go to die and be reborn, the Bonneville Salt Flats will welcome racers of all stripes later this month, among them a past champ: Lightning Motorcycles.
Lightning, which brought their juiced-up electric motorcycle to Bonneville in August 2012 and departed with the record for fastest, street-legal production bike in the world after averaging a two-way speed of 218 MPH, is hoping to shatter their own mark and wrest the title back from the Kawasaki H2R, who beat the record by a measly 2 MPH.
Lightning is rolling up to the event with their new LS-2??RR prototype (those question marks will be replaced with the top speed number), a bike that uses a high-density battery pack and a cutting-edge electric drivetrain system.
What will actually happen at Bonneville Speed Week —which takes place from August 12th-18th — remains to be seen, but Lightning CEO Richard Hatfield sounds confident that rider Jim Hoogerhyde and the LS-2?? RR will make this year’s desert gathering a “special event.”
“You know, I hate to make predictions, because the universe tends to punish me when I make predictions,” Hatfield told New Atlas. “Let’s say this: if we manage to go faster than we did before, I’ll consider it a success. If we get into the 220s, I’ll consider it a big success, and anything over that will be whipped cream and ice cream on top of it.”
As speed fans, we’re hoping Lightning gets their sundae. Here’s a quick look at the company:
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