FEATURE
TOP OF THE WORLD LAND SPEED TRIAL
P108
and his crew have a plan of attack
for their six-day private event,
dubbed the "Top of the World
Land Speed Trial" in Bolivia.
"We just want to be able to go
a little over 400 two ways and get
Rocky into the record book," said
Akatiff. "And then it will be up to
Rocky. We'll just start raising the
gear or doing whatever it takes,
and he says he's ready to go as
fast as that bike will go."
If the salt conditions are opti-
mum (as expected), there is little
possibilities are limitless. "I'm
almost scared to think how fast
the stupid bike can go!" Akatiff
chuckled.
If the Ack Attack's run in Uyuni
is a success, it will not only spell
victory for the team, but for the
Uyuni salt flat, itself. Record-
breaking land speed will have
a new home, and will that spell
the end for world-record speed
trials at Bonneville? In Akatiff's
opinion, those who are chas-
ing outright world-record speed
might need to take a serious
look at Bolivia. But he hasn't lost
faith in Bonneville.
"Bonneville was in good
shape in 2010. It was the best
course I'd ever seen in 2013,"
Akatiff said. "They're working on
trying to restore Bonneville, too.
So I have hopes that it will come
back. But it will never be like this
salt lake in Bolivia."
The track for the Top 1 Oil-
sponsored Top of the World
Land Speed Trial is being laid
out right now, and the team
heads to Bolivia the first week
in August. The trial begins on
August 3 and ends on Tuesday,
August 8. Expect to see some
fireworks from the Top1 Ack At-
tack more than once throughout
the six-day event.
To find out more about the
Top of the World Land Speed
Trial and the Top1 Ack Attack,
visit http://top1ackattack.com/
index.htm.
CN
Mike Akatiff's
background
in avionics,
and passion
for speed and
innovation,
have led his
Ack Attack
team to
capture the
all-time land-
speed world
record three
times. They're
hoping for
a fourth in
Bolivia.
Making the Calculations
to stand in the way of Robinson's
quest for the Ack Attack's maxi-
mum speed.
"We have 10 miles, if we need
it, to run up before we get to the
trap," Akatiff explained, reveal-
ing another major advantage of
the Uyuni salt. The longest track
at Bonneville is around 11 miles,
which includes both run-up and
slowdown. With nearly 100 miles
in each direction at Uyuni, the
