Stunt rider smashes world record for fastest headstand on a motorbike
A British daredevil has clocked a new official motorcycle headstand top speed during an unusual record attempt on Saturday.
Stunt rider Marco George has amazingly performed a handstand on a motorbike while travelling at over 76 miles per hour (76.176mph)
Attempting to set a world record for the fastest ever headstand on a motorcycle, Marco George, 30, from Hampshire, registered a speed of 76.176mph at the Straightliners World’s Fastest Wheelie Competition at the Elvington airfield last Saturday.
It‘s expected to be ratified by Guinness World Records, with the previous record thought to be only 30mph – a target Marco had been hoping to double.
He told the PA news agency: “I don’t know what happened, I just clicked into the next gear of what I normally do and managed to pull a 76. I feel amazing and relieved.”
The record was almost not to be as Mr George was forced to buy a new crash helmet on the morning of the attempt because his current lid didn’t meet required safety standards.
This resulted in a couple of failed runs as he got used to the new helmet shape before clocking a speed of 68mph on his first official run.
After this attempt, he was going to call it a day, but Trevor (Duckworth, Straightliners founder) said to try and go for 70 because it's the national speed limit.
“So we went back out, felt good, had a couple of practice runs, then pulled a 76, which is about the limit I think of what my core strength can hold” George said.
After being told by Guinness the mark to beat was 30mph, he spent weeks building up his core strength as well as learning to do the frightening trick in full leathers – something stunt riders don’t wear because of movement restrictions.
After officially clocking 76mph Mr George said he wouldn’t consider extending his record even faster as he’d promised his mother that he wouldn’t re-attempt the record after the 70mph mark was broken.
