WHAT’S NEW
World
class
JCB RETURNS TO ELVINGTON AIRFIELD
TO CLAIM THE UNDISPUTED TITLE OF
WORLD’S FASTEST TRACTOR
TV celebrity and motorcycle racer Guy Martin was behind
the wheel as the JCB Fastrac Two smashed its own
Guinness World Record at Elvington Airfi eld, near York, on
October 24, 2019. Just four months on from the Fastrac One world
record of 103.6mph on June 20, the upgraded Fastrac Two achieved
an average speed of 135.191mph (with a peak speed of 153.771mph)
despite the wet and greasy conditions.
Although June’s time of 103.6mph was declared a Guinness World
Record, the JCB team wanted to beat the unoffi cial world record time
of 108.5 mph, which was set by a modifi ed Allis Chalmers tractor
known as The Pioneer in October 2018 at the Arkansas 1 Mile
Challenge. As a result, every element of the Fastrac had to be
overhauled in four months.
“We were told we had the world record but we’re sensitive to
claims of higher speeds so since June, we’ve reduced the weight by
10%, improved the aerodynamics by 10% and increased the power by
100%. That meant we could unleash the full potential of the machine
with Fastrac Two,” says JCB ‘engine guru’ Alan Tolley, the OEM’s
group director of engines.
To reduce the weight, the team redesigned the chassis to be 22%
lighter. Quite a few parts were swapped from steel to aluminium.
The standard Fastrac weighs 8.5 tonnes, but Fastrac Two came in
at just under 5 tonnes. A lot of work was done on the aerodynamics
with Williams Advanced Engineering and Ricardo. Formula 1 engineer
Rob Smedley, who has worked with both Ferrari and
Williams, helped with some of the performance
simulations and aero detailing. “This was
highly technical work that reduced the
drag coeffi cient on the frontal areas and
helped stop air turbulence as it passes
over the bodywork,” says Tolley.
Fastrac One had been theoretically
capable of 1,000hp, but it was 135mph
The new tractor land
speed record set by
JCB (Exact speed:
iVTInternational.com November 2019 7
135.191mph)
/iVTInternational.com
