JCB Fastrac sets new tractor speed record

When a speed racer in the form of Guy Martin and one of the fastest tractors on the land come together, it could only mean one thing. A speed record attempt and a successful one at that.

Last week, a souped up JCB Fastrac notched up an impressive 103.6mph (166km/h) at Elvington Airfield, near York, with TV presenter and engineering guru Guy Martin behind the wheel.  It smashed the previous 87.27mph (140km/h) record set in March 2018 by Top Gear’s Track-Tor.

The record-breaking tractor is powered by JCB’s 7.2 litre, 6-cylinder DieselMax engine capable of delivering 1000hp and 2500Nm of torque. According to JCB, the Fastrac had its aerodynamics enhanced with the help of Williams Advanced Engineering and had been “put on a diet” to enable it to achieve the record.

“It had been a great day with the JCB at Elvington, proper job with some right proper engineers. She felt rock steady on the runway, job’s a peach,” Guy Martin said.

A team of JCB engineers has been working on the secret project to develop the tractor over the past few months. JCB Chairman Lord Bamford commended the team for the “amazing achievement.”

“We’ve long harboured a dream to attempt a speed record with the Fastrac and the whole team has worked tirelessly to achieve this amazing result,” he said.

“I’m extremely proud of what they have achieved in such a short space of time.

“It is British engineering at its best and it really does highlight the skills and innovation we have in our engineering team. They have done a truly fantastic job.”

It was Lord Bamford’s idea to develop a tractor which had a high road speed capable of field work and the speed record achieved yesterday came exactly 28 years to the day since the first Fastrac production model rolled off the line.

Neither JCB nor Guy Martin are strangers to speed records.

In 2006, JCB’s DieselMax streamliner set a new diesel land speed record when it reached 350.092mph on Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA, using two JCB DieselMax engines - a record that still stands to this day.

Martin, on the other hand, is known for setting unusual speed records including fastest hovercraft and fastest speed on a gravity powered snow sled in 2014; and highest speed on a Wall of Death, achieved in 2016.

The full story of the Fastrac's record-breaking feat will be told in a special Channel 4 programme to be aired later in the year in the UK.