JCB tractors teamed up with Guy Martin to set a new speed record... in a JCB Fastrac 8330

The tractor went 103.6mph at Elvington Airfield, near York, with TV presenter and engineering guru Guy Martin behind the wheel. It smashed the previous 87.27mph record set in March 2018 by Top Gear’s Track-Tor.

https://twitter.com/JCBmachines/status/1142020283383144448/photo/1

Williams Formula One team came together with British industrial equipment manufacturer JCB to break a world record. The 7.2-liter diesel engine on this beast puts out 1,000 horsepower and 1,843 pound-feet of torque, according to JCB’s press release. Pair that with putting former motorcycle racer and TV presenter Guy Martin behind the wheel and you can hit a whopping 103.6 mph.

The record was set at Elvington Airfield. The whole scheme was put together by JCB Chairman Lord Bramford, or Anthony Bamford. The goal behind the Fastrac series was to create tractors that have higher road speeds but are still capable of performing duties when it comes to fieldwork.


The rear axle is no longer in production and was from the 2000 series Fastrac, as the 5deg angled running position was ideal to accept the propshafts.

The lack of a rear differential means the rear BKT 28in tyres turn at exactly the same rotation, no matter what you’re doing, which offers boat-like turning circles – very different to the four-wheel steer production Fastracs.

Designing a solid axle was purely for strength and it has taken parts from different product lines – the half shafts are from the 8000 models and the drive head is taken from the old 3000 series.

Spacers were needed between the axles and hubs to get the rear wheels running in line with those at the front.

Weight-saving was a factor across the whole tractor, even the discs were reduced from 22mm to 16mm. Empty weight sits around 5t, whereas a standard 4000 series is 7.5t.

The cab is a 4000 series model but has been mounted lower and had its width reduced to limit drag.

The record attempt required two runs, with an average of both taken for the result. It was clear that the 15mph winds at Elvington certainly hampered the return leg and brought the final speed down.

https://www.powernationtv.com/post/tractor-breaks-world-record-with-1000-hp-and-100-mph-top-speed
https://www.jcb.com/en-us/products/agricultural-tractors  though there is no news on their website https://www.jcb.com/en-us/news
But there is on their twitter https://twitter.com/JCBmachines
or go to  https://www.farminglife.com/farming-news/jcb-fastrac-tractor-storms-to-new-record-1-8975593  instead
https://www.fwi.co.uk/machinery/tractors/guy-martin-smashes-british-tractor-speed-record-in-jcb-fastrac

If you recall, JCB was doing some drag racing publicity eleven years ago with a backhoe https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/05/17-second-14-miler-backhoe-at-rocky.html  and recently had some great publicity with their tractors in the Alien movie with Michael Fassbender https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2017/05/audi-and-jcb-are-clearly-marketing-in.html