2025 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials
FIM Land Speed World Records
The 2025 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials came to a close late last week after six days of action on Utah’s iconic Bonneville Salt Flats, forming part of this year’s FIM Land Speed World Records program.
As one of the most weather-dependent disciplines in motorsport, conditions once again proved a major hurdle. Intermittent rain, sharp temperature swings, and bursts of strong wind limited attempts and even forced the cancellation of Monday’s entire schedule when standing water made the eight-kilometre access road impassable.
The unsettled weather also meant the FIM-accredited absolute Land Speed World Record could not be attempted this year. Even so, three determined riders still managed to set four new FIM World Records, which now await official ratification.
The Trials ran across two courses, the Mountain Track and the longer International Track, but heavy pooling and slow drying times forced repeated closures. The International Track, in particular, was impacted, losing significant running time and ultimately closing altogether on the final day of the meet.
This meant that without the crucial long run-up and deceleration zones, the fastest machines were sidelined. Among them was Denis Manning’s BUB Seven Streamliner, with rider Chris Rivas originally set to chase the FIM absolute Land Speed World Record of 376.156mph (605.697km/h). With conditions against them, any record-breaking attempts were off the table.
Chris Rivas
“The goal, maybe not at the end of this week, but at the end of this project is 400mph,” he said. “Nobody is in a big push because safety is first so we’re not going to rush anything and, as you can see, everybody is pretty laid back, but very focussed.”
However, the Mountain Track delivered plenty of action, with the first new FIM World Record falling on Tuesday morning courtesy of Liane Langlois, a 50-year-old HR manager from Alberta, Canada.
Riders are timed over both a mile and a kilometre, with an initial down run followed by a return run within two hours. The two results are averaged to produce the official speed. On her unfaired, three-cylinder 2012 JKR Powersports 2295cc Triumph Rocket III Roadster fitted with a weighted sidecar, Langlois set an FIM World Record of 136.331mph (219.404km/h) over the kilometre.
Liane Langlois
“It’s pretty cool,” said Langlois, who has been a BMST regular since 2014. “We did a shakedown pass a couple of days ago and I ran 130mph and it felt bumpy, but my down run today felt better. On my return run I wasn’t feeling a lot of traction, but I managed to keep it above 135mph for the world record. I’m really excited.”
Dale Zlock, co-owner of Zlock Racing LLC with his brother Dan, has been making the pilgrimage from Washington State to the Bonneville Salt Flats since 2014 and already holds several FIM World Records. On Tuesday, the 69-year-old added another to the list, piloting his partially streamlined, twin-cylinder 2004 Zlock Racing LLC 600cc Suzuki SV to a kilometre average of 151.100mph (243.172km/h). The run shattered his previous mark by an impressive 22.681mph (36.501km/h).
Dale Zlock
“The bike worked just as I had envisioned it would,” he said. “You go through the gears and get it up to sixth. I know it won’t pull all the way to the red line in sixth until you turn on the nitrous, so when you hit sixth and the revs drop you hit the NOS. It kicks in and you can really feel it. We got the gearing spot on because it pulled all the way up to my power peak and just stayed there. It’s not my first record, but it feels pretty good.”
The final two FIM World Records of the meet went to Lisa Cipolla, a 56-year-old Youth Services Librarian from Washington State, riding her four-cylinder 2012 Zlock Racing LLC 600cc Kawasaki ZX-6R.
On Tuesday, Cipolla set a new kilometre record at 146.799mph (236.251km/h) with her machine in partially streamlined trim. She returned the following day, stripped off the bodywork, and went on to claim the unfaired kilometre record at 135.466mph (217.979km/h).
Lisa Cipolla
“It always feels magnificent on the salt, but I was very nervous [on Tuesday],” she said. “It felt so good on the down run, but on the return run it didn’t feel as settled on the salt – I don’t know if the wind had picked up – so I was trying to feather the throttle. I really, really wanted 160mph, but that’s okay. I like doing new stuff and I’ve never ridden an unfaired bike so I didn’t know how the wind would affect me, but the down run was so much fun, except I messed up and shifted up into fifth when I didn’t have the RPMs. On the return run I did better because I just left it in fourth gear and got it up to 13,000rpm by the time I hit the measured mile. The faired bikes are like riding a bullet, but this was much more like riding a motorcycle. We’re already planning to come next year with a naked bike and nitrous!”
Riders travelled from as far afield as Japan, New Zealand and Australia, and while the weather kept many from chasing new FIM World Records, the mood in the paddock remained anything but gloomy. The “spirit of Bonneville” was alive and well, perhaps best embodied by Michael Garcia, who made the long trip from Alaska to compete.
Garcia already owns two FIM World Records, including a 265.037mph benchmark set in Bolivia, and came to Utah determined to surpass Jamie Williams’ record of 226.667mph (364.785km/h) for a partially streamlined, multi-cylinder 2000cc machine. His weapon of choice was the Garcia/Sims Racing Suzuki Hayabusa, but the closure of the International Track ultimately scuppered any chance of an attempt.
Michael Garcia
“It’s a passion, I just love to do it,” he said. “We couldn’t run on the long course because of weather conditions, but you take what you can get and race on the track that you can and count yourself blessed that you can at least go racing.”
