June 21, 2019 2.32 pm This story is over 56 months old

Guy Martin beats speed record — in a tractor!

Outpaced a record from The Stig

TV presenter and engineering guru Guy Martin was behind the wheel as JCB set a new British speed record for tractors.

The high-speed Fastrac tractor set a new British speed record for tractors after notching up 103.6mph at Elvington Airfield near York on Thursday, June 20.

The latest speed smashed the previous record of 87.27mph set in March 2018 by Top Gear’s Track-Tor driven by The Stig.

A team of JCB engineers has been working on the secret project to develop the tractor over the past few months. It was JCB Chairman Lord Bamford’s idea to develop a tractor which had a high road speed capable of field work.

Lord Bamford said: “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.”

Guy 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.”

The record achieved on Thursday came exactly 28 years to the day since the first production model rolled off the line.

This isn’t JCB’s first land speed record though. In 2006, its DieselMax streamliner set a new diesel land speed record when it reached 350.092mph on Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA using two JCB DieselMax engines. The record still stands to this day.