Can you even imagine doing such a thing? Often times, driving past one on the road, I can’t help but wonder what these guys go through; driving in an exposed cockpit doing 40-50 km/h.
Of course, such a special feat requires a special kind of human and in this case, the record was set by none other than daredevil, Guy Martin; well known for his exploits in the extremely dangerous and life-risking Isle of Man race.
The tractor, worked on by the those behind the Williams F1 Team, develops 1,000 hp and an incredible 2,500 Nm of torque, mated to a 6-speed manual ZF transmission that replaced the tractor’s original CVT gearbox.
With such immense power from a 7.2-litre 6-cylinder diesel engine, the tractor recorded a top speed of 166.7 km/h; smashing the previous record (140 km/h) set by Top Gear in 2018.
JCB is no stranger to such achievements, with previous attempts achieving 117 km/h in the JCB GT backhoe – sealing a place in the Guinness World Records.
In 2006, JCB set a new diesel land speed record with the DieselMax streamliner when it reached 563 km/h at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA, using two JCB DieselMax engines. To this day, the record has yet to be broken.
