In this series, Guy Martin attempts four engineering challenges per season, based around the theme of speed, and occasionally joined by celebrity guests.
Martin attempts to break the British record for speed on a bicycle of 110 mph (180 km/h). He does so at Pendine Sands, reaching a top speed of 112.94 mph (181.76 km/h) whilst slipstreaming a racing truck.[5]
2
2
"Hydroplaning Bike"
None
5 January 2014 (2014-01-05)
Martin attempts to set the world speed record for riding a motorcycle on water. He tries to do so on Bala Lake, Gwynedd.[6]
3
3
"Human Powered Aircraft"
None
12 January 2014 (2014-01-12)
Martin tries to construct the world's fastest human powered aircraft.
4
4
"World's Fastest Toboggan"
None
19 January 2014 (2014-01-19)
Martin sets out to set the world speed record for fastest toboggan, he tries to do so down the Pista Riberal ski slope in the AndorranPyrenees.[7] He does so, setting a new record of 83.5 mph (134.4 km/h)[8] – a 21.25 mph (34.20 km/h) improvement on the previous record of 62.25 mph (100.18 km/h).[7][9]
Martin explores what distance is it possible to cycle during 24 hours of non-stop pedalling. Joined by a friend, and cycling in a custom tandem bicycle designed by Mike Burrows, the two break the world record by cycling 565 miles in 24 hours.[10]
Martin builds a motorbike to compete in the 2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in an attempt to win the Exhibition Motorcycle class.[12] In preparation for the hill climb, Martin meets with Pike's Peak overall record holder (8m 13s) Sébastien Loeb, and former automobile racer Bobby Unser.[12] In England, Martin constructs his bike, a turbocharged Suzuki GSX-R1100;[13][14] Martin also modifies a room into a hypobaric chamber for altitude training on a bicycle.[12] Martin wins his class in 11m 32.558s,[15] becoming the first British winner of Pike's Peak.[12]
Martin attempts to break the world speed record for a gravity racer, set in 2012 by Doug Anderson at 84.4 mph (135.8 km/h) on a public road in North Carolina. A 2 km stretch of public road on Mont Ventoux, Southern France, is chosen to as the location for the record attempt, with a timing gate on the fastest 100m measuring the racer's average speed.[20] Martin trains for the record attempt Pontrhyfendigiad, Ceredigion, under street luge champion Helene Schmit, reaching a top speed of 48 mph (77 km/h).[20] While testing the racer at Harewood Hill Climb in Leeds, Martin reaches 38 mph (61 km/h).[20] On the first day in France, Martin reaches a top speed of 71 mph (114 km/h) on his first run, and 77.2 mph (124.2 km/h) on his second, and 81.8 mph (131.6 km/h) on his third run, after five bottles of water are added to the racer as a ballast.[20] On the second day, the tyre pressure of the racer is increased and a further 5.5 kg is added, and Martin sets a new record with a run of 85.6 mph (137.8 km/h), but Martin reports handling issues under braking again.[20] It is decided to make a second run in order to find the racer's maximum speed, adding a further 10 kg and taking the total weight to 200 kg.[20] During braking, the racer fishtails, spins around and hits the barrier, causing it to roll over several times before coming to rest on its roof, but still on the road. Martin emerges unscathed but the racer is damaged beyond use.[20]
With assistance from Sir Chris Hoy and Sir Ben Ainslie, Martin attempts to set the water speed record for a human-powered watercraft.[27][28] Due to an excess amount of underwater weeds, Martin has to cancel his record attempt in Bayford Pool, Lincoln, England.[29]
On 8 June 2015, a boxset entitled Complete Speed with Guy Martin was released on DVD and Blu-ray in DVD region 0.[44] It was composed of the first two series as a 2-disc box set.[45]
Notes
^Despite appearing in the episode, Unser was not credited.[16]
