VOL. 54 ISSUE 30 AUGUST 1, 2017 P105
With 100
miles in each
direction of
perfect salt at
their disposal,
the Ack Attack
will have all
the run-up it
needs to reach
staggering
speeds in
Bolivia.
Cook found support in the
area, even meeting with the
Vice President of Bolivia, who
was delighted to welcome the
world-record attempt to his
country. Once Cook sent the
green light to Akatiff back in
San Jose, California, Akatiff
and his long-time sponsor,
Top 1 Oil, got to work mak-
ing arrangements to make
a run in Uyuni the first week
in August: getting FIM of-
ficials to sanction the private
meet, equipment to drag the
course, containers to ship the
Top1 Ack Attack and spare
parts, customs, hotels, plane
tickets, medics on site, every
detail right down to port-a-
potties on the salt.
"It's a real logistics chal-
lenge to get there, believe
me," Akatiff said. "It's abso-
lutely a pioneering effort.
We're going to be the first
ones ever to do this."
The endeavor is a stagger-
ing one, especially give that
Akatiff and his crew already
have the all-time two-wheel
land-speed world record.
But 376.4 mph isn't enough.
Not when the 400 mph
barrier is so close. Driver
Rocky Robinson has actually
reached 400 mph in the Top1
Ack Attack once, but didn't
record an "official" speed. (To
set a world record, speeds
must be recorded by the FIM
within a one-mile speed trap.
A record-breaking run must
be backed up by a return
pass, and the two runs are
then averaged for an "official"
speed.) The Ack Attack's
unofficial time was enough
to satisfy Akatiff, but not
Robinson. He wants it on the
record.
"The whole reason we're
doing this is for Rocky,"
Akatiff said. "We already went
400 at Bonneville and it was
just for an instant because it
was at the end of the timed
mile. There wasn't enough
course there. If we could have
backed up a mile we would
have went into the trap at
400. Officially we went 394,
but we knew we went 400.
That was kind of my goal. But
Rocky wants to be the first
guy to go 400 mph on a mo-
torcycle so badly. Once we
get him over 400, I'm done.
The bike's going to get retired
at that point."
Yet as they prepare for
their 400-mph attempt, a new
number has come up in their
calculations—450. The Uyuni
salt flats sit at an altitude of
12,500 feet—a factor that has
skewed their calculations to-
ward a number they hadn't yet
considered, with the thin air
working to the bike's advan-
tage in a significant way.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
MIKE
COOK
