Back in 2017, some of the world’s fastest motorcycle racers headed to South America to make history at the first-ever FIM-sanctioned land speed world record event on Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni. Following the pioneering effort was a return event in 2018, but since then, any attempts to return to South America’s famous proving grounds, the largest salt flats in the world, had been thwarted. Five years later, the TOP 1 Oil Bolivia Speed Trials are finally set to return to the Salar for an FIM-FIA-sanctioned event, 16-21 August, 2023.
The TOP 1 Oil Bolivia Speed Trials is made possible through the support of Federacion Boliviana de Motociclismo (FBM), and is open to all automobile and motorcycle entries. The event will be limited to total of 15 to help ensure optimum turnaround times for qualifying record runs. Find more information on the event and entry cost at BoliviaSpeedTrials.com.
Set atop Bolivia’s Altiplano at 3,600 meters (12,000 feet) above sea level, the Salar de Uyuni covers over 10,000 square kilometers (nearly 4,000 square miles) with salt up to 10 meters thick, making it the ideal natural terrain for a seemingly endless track. The course at the Bolivia Speed Trials will be 24 km (15 miles) long and 33 meters (110 feet) wide, the prime stage for racers needing a longer track than Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats can provide.
The August event will take place during the Bolivian winter, with total average rainfall between May and August at 3mm (0.01 inches) ensuring prime salt conditions. Previous FIM Land Speed World Record events on the Salar have seen outstanding conditions, and multiple world records, the first set by Al Lamb in 2017, a speed of 427.84 km/h (265.849 mph) aboard his Honda CBR1000RR, at the time, the fastest-ever sit-on motorcycle speed. Although his record only stood for one day, Lamb will always be the first-ever to record a world land-speed record on the Salar de Uyuni.
Among those looking forward to returning to the Salar de Uyuni is Mike Akatiff’s TOP 1 Oil Ack Attack team. The Ack Attack currently holds the all-time two-wheel FIM Land Speed World Record at 376.363 mph (605.697 km/h), set at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2010 with rider Rocky Robinson, but the team has been on a quest for the 400-mph (643 km/h) barrier ever since. Akatiff, organizer for the 2023 TOP 1 Oil Bolivia Speed Trials, and Robinson are looking forward to another attempt with the turbo-charged twin-Hayabusa-powered streamliner in August.
“We’ve made attempts in recent years to return to the Salar, but the pandemic and other issues complicated everything,” said Akatiff. “We are excited to finally announce our return to Bolivia, this time with some four-wheel competitors and FIA-sanctioning along with FIM. Every trip to the Salar de Uyuni has been an adventure and a learning process. And the third time’s the charm, right? This promises to be another great track and prime conditions, and that 400-mph barrier awaits. We can’t wait to make history in Bolivia.”
For more information about the TOP 1 Oil Bolivia Land Speed Trials, visit https://www.boliviaspeedtrials.com
FIM Communications