Seven-time land speed record holder Valerie Thompson became the first female member of the Colorado Mile 200 MPH Club with a top speed pass of 201.2 mph on her Quicksilver Powersports Lubricants/CTEK sponsored BMW. Thompson premiered an Iron Horse Motorcycles prepared motorcycle with an all-new hand built racing engine provided by BMW Motorrad, the first of its kind to see competition in the US.
The Colorado Mile is a new competition for the 2015 land speed racing schedule. The event is held at Front Range Airport in Watkins and is Colorado’s first one-mile speed event.
Thompson made a total of 11 runs on the one-mile course during the two-day speed festival, taking special care to break-in the custom built BMW racing engine and all-new high performance exhaust system. Denver’s high attitude provided its typical challenges thrown at every racing team manager and tuner.
“Valerie is a true champion and fierce competitor, so we decided to provide her with a S 1000 RR Stage 3 HP Race engine, specifically the ‘Power Motor’ variant. This is the first time we have imported a Stage 3 engine to the US from the BMW HP race shop in Munich. Producing 215 hp from 999 cc, it’s the same engine specification BMW Motorrad offers teams participating in the FIM WSBK series,” said Mike Hernandez, Manager BMW Motorrad Parts and Accessories.
“This was our first competition after several months of event cancelations at Bonneville. In addition to the BMW engine, we were testing a new Akrapovic exhaust system and other new equipment,” said Thompson. “The 8300 foot elevation near Denver is much higher than where we normally compete, so we knew optimal performance would be a real challenge. Despite that handicap, we learned a lot and I know the Quicksilver Powersports Lubricants BMW will go much faster at other venues. I’m very excited about our next race on the salt,” said a confident Thompson.
Thompson’s next competition will be the prestigious Mike Cook’s Bonneville Shootout September 17-21, featuring the world’s fastest streamliners and motorcycles.
For additional information, visit usmileracing.com and landspeedevents.com.
