Paul Heard to attempt world motorbike record

Tauranga company director Paul Heard to attempt world production motorbike speed record in Featherston.

Saturday 1 November

On Sunday 9 November Paul Heard will start his year-long assault on the world 1000cc production motorbike speed record.

“Last Sunday I rode 300 kilometres around the Bay of Plenty getting used to the power of the Ducati Desmosedici RR. Next Sunday I’ll be going faster than 311kph on one thin, flat stretch of road in the Wairarapa. If I do that, I’ll capture the world production motorbike speed record, and it’ll be a fantastic start to our world tour,” says Heard.

“The only difference between the bike I road last Sunday, and the one I’m riding next Sunday, is that we’ve taken the indicators off. I won’t be making any turns, I’ll just going as fast as I can in a straight line.”

On 12 November, Heard and his support team will embark on a year-long, world tour to progressively keep breaking the 311 kph world production motorcycle record on a Ducati Desmosedici RR. Heard’s first stop will be Dubai where he has been invited to showcase the bike at 2008 Dubai Motorsport Festival, with a second speed run to be undertaken at Dubai’s new airport and a further run in Bahrain.

In 2009 Heard has confirmed appearances in South Africa, Australia for the Melbourne GP, and Japan, before travelling to the United Kingdom where he will appear on the television show Fifth Gear. Heard will then tour Europe, including a stop in Italy, the home of Ducati. Heard will then carry on to the United States for an interview with Jay Leno before finishing at the famous Speedweek on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in August 2009.

“I’m going to travel around the world, attempting to progressively capture country speed records while continually bettering the world record,” says Heard.

“If all goes according to plan, by August 2009 I will have set at least ten country speed records and in each country reset the world production motorcycle speed record.”

Heard’s need for speed is driven by the kiwi dream to take on the world, and the 46-year-old company director has already captured the imagination of leading international news companies, including CNN, BBC2, and ABC. TVNZ is covering the year-long programme, and the Discovery Channel is making a documentary about Heard’s world record attempts and will cover Sunday’s Cliff Hanger Promotions Flying Mile at Featherston.

Additional Information

Christchurch-born Paul Heard is a company director and software developer based in Tauranga. Heard has 20-years involvement in the New Zealand racing industry, and is the owner and manager of MV Agusta Motorsport which races in the New Zealand super bike circuit. In February 2008 at Carterton, Heard fell 7 kph short of the New Zealand production motorcycle record on a MV Agusta motorcycle.

On Sunday 9 November, at the Cliff Hanger Promotions Flying Mile in Featherston, Heard will run a Ducati Desmosedici RR production motorbike. The Desmosedici RR is closely modelled on Casey Stoner’s 2007 championship winning MotorGP, and with a limited 1500 manufactured, Heard has the backing and support of Ducati to break the world record. With the bike performing at continuous full power for 5km over each run, Heard has had to source specially-designed tyres developed to perform at extreme speeds over prolonged distances.

The current world production motorcycle speed record of 311 kph was set by an American riding a MV Agusta in Bonneville, Utah.

For the Cliff Hanger Flying Mile the rider has a 4km approach run before entering the quarter mile “box” where the average speed is clocked using electronic timing gear. The rider then repeats the run in the opposite direction with the average speed of the two runs used as the official result for the trial.

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