It wasn't easy for competi-
tors to move forward with the
event after the sobering inci-
dent, especially for Mike Garcia,
who was running in the same
category, up against Assen's
own FIM World Record that had
stood for 12 years.
Over the next two days, Gar
-
cia and his Garcia Sims Racing
team, with the backing of Dallas
Honda, worked to tune in his
partially streamlined 1350cc
turbocharged Hayabusa in an
effort to reach Assen's 261-mph
record. Garcia had struggled to
push past the 250-mph barrier
for years but was finally able
to find the added speed on the
Bolivian racetrack.
But even with the perfect
track and the perfect bike,
the job wasn't done. Rental
car complications meant the
team was missing the sup
-
port vehicle needed to shuttle
the motorcycle to and from
the racecourse. As luck would
have it, the only other op
-
tion was Assen's crew, and
the Aussies were more than
willing to help. Through the
cooperation of Kelvin Brown
and Steve McGrath, the Garcia
Sims Racing team had the fi
-
nal missing piece they needed
to set a new FIM World Record
of 265 mph on the final day of
the event.
"I can't even put it into
words. Richard told those
guys to tell me to go for it and
good luck," said an emotional
Garcia. "His crew became my
crew today. They towed our
vehicle down, couldn't have
done it without them. I just
can't thank him enough and
I wish he was here. I'm glad
he's okay. I was talking to him
FEATURE I TOP OF THE WORLD LAND SPEED SHOOTOUT
P112
(Left) Lamb was the
first to set an FIM
Land Speed World
Record in Bolivia
and is still chasing
the 300-mph mark.
(Right) Jamie
Williams pilots
the MTT 420RR
turbine-powered
superbike into the
timed mile.
