Guy Martin’s need for speed at Machrihanish airbase
Kintyre welcomed a celebrity visitor last weekend when truck mechanic turned motorcycle racer and television presenter Guy Martin visited Machrihanish Airbase Community Company (MACC) Business Park as part of his Project 300 preparations.
Guy, who holds multiple Guinness World Records titles for speed-related events, is now looking to break the record for 300 miles per hour in a mile on a conventional motorcycle, and found the 2,900 metre-long taxiway at Machrihanish perfect for some high-speed practise.
Last Sunday morning’s dry, clear and still weather created the perfect conditions that allowed for several practise runs on Guy’s custom-built Suzuki Hayabusa streamliner. Early risers would have been treated to the wail of the more than 800-brake-horsepower superbike making its way to an unconfirmed 279 miles per hour at sunrise.
This is the latest of several record attempts using the former airbase’s impressive infrastructure, starting in 1988 with Alan and Norman Clark attempting to break the speed record with a skier on a car roof, to The Flying Scotsman Graeme O’Bree’s record breaking human-powered ‘Beastie’ bicycle.
MACC Business Park manager Malcolm McMillan said: ‘It’s always exciting when we get called about using the site for record attempts, but it’s not possible without a big effort from the volunteers to make sure that everything goes safely, so thank you to the 13-strong safety team and to the understanding MACC Business Park tenants for accommodating Guy’s request.
‘It was incredible to watch something cover thousands of metres in a matter of seconds. Guy was accompanied by his father and both were absolute stars; they could not have been more grateful and were very impressed with the area’s scenery and hospitality.’
Guy also took time during his visit to check out wind turbine transport specialist McFadyen’s Transport’s Scania S730 flagship lorry and super wing carrier combination.
A McFadyen’s spokesperson said: ‘I think it’s fair to say that he was very impressed!’