JCB has set a new British speed record for tractors with its high-speed Fastrac tractor.
The tractor notched up 103.6mph at Elvington Airfield, near York, with TV presenter and motorbike racer Guy Martin behind the wheel. It smashed the previous 87.27mph record set in March 2018 by Top Gear’s Track-Tor.
Martin said: “It had been a great day with the JCB at Elvington, proper job with some right proper engineers. She felt rock steady on the runway, job’s a peach.”
A team of JCB engineers has been working on the secret project to develop the tractor over the past few months and JCB Chairman Lord Bamford has praised their “amazing achievement”.
He said: “We’ve long harboured a dream to attempt a speed record with the Fastrac and the whole team has worked tirelessly to achieve this amazing result. I’m extremely proud of what they have achieved in such a short space of time. It is British engineering at its best and it really does highlight the skills and innovation we have in our engineering team. They have done a truly fantastic job.”
It was Lord Bamford’s idea to develop a tractor capable of field work which had a high road speed. The record came exactly 28 years to the day since the first production model rolled off the line.
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