Swedish Top Fuel Motorcycle Rider Svensson Runs World Record 5.70

Step aside, Spiderman…there’s a new superhero in town.

Last week, European Top Fuel Motorcycle rider Peter Svensson made the quickest wheel-driven pass in the history of motorcycle drag racing when he corralled his nitro-burning rocket to an elapsed time of 5.709 seconds at 355.50 Km/h (220.89 mph) during the Scandinavian Nationals at Sweden’s Tierp Arena.

The monumental run surpasses the performance bests of American motorcycle racing legend Larry “The Spiderman” McBride, who for years has been alone at the top of the record books with his mind-numbing performances and competition dominance. In the fall of 2008, McBride made his career best and the then all-time quickest pass of 5.74-seconds — a number that many thought no other team in the world was capable of surpassing. Until now.

Like McBride, Svensson was, to our knowledge, unable to later back up the record pass, but unlike “fluke” runs where the incrementals are often askew, the time slip adds up from the short time on through the boards. That, combined with a number of low 5.9-second runs to his credit previously, make this straight-as-an-arrow performance perfectly legitimate.

Like others around the world, Svensson’s motorcycle is powered by a 1600cc-plus DOHC supercharged powerplant burning 85-95% nitromethane and producing well in excess of 1,000 horsepower.