UK’s Angelic Bulldog Team To Challenge Record
In 2003, Gabriel Uttley piloted the Motivator during a test in South Africa.
In the summer of 2010, UK based Gabriel Uttley and his band of engineers, fabricators and tea totalers will embark on a journey so ambitious one might think they were… off their trolley. “We’re going to ship the bike over in late July. Speed Week is our first goal, then the BUB meet, and if all goes well, the Shootout to finish.” Their goal is to be the first to exceed 400 mph on two wheels. As of this interview they are running a little behind the curve. The chassis has yet to be fabricated, the sleek, phallic-like bodywork exists only in theory and design, and the Powertec engine program is an unproven commodity in two-wheel racing.
A little background on the Brit’s new streamliner: “As it stands the machine will weigh approximately 800kgs (1760 lbs.) Its 23-feet long, 24-inches wide, and 3-feet tall. It features hub-center steering, with twin chain drives to the rear wheel. The bodywork is composite.”
Yeah, but the really cool part is the engine. The top ends off two
Suzuki Hayabusa motors mount to a common crank. Powerful, yet lightweight, the smooth running V8 utilizes a car-type gearbox. “The torque curve is almost linear.” On nitrous they’re expecting to produce 750 horsepower!
Gabriel was a school teacher by trade, but after 12 years of the daily grind he’d had enough. I asked about his racing background, and how he made the decision to contest the most coveted prize in two-wheel racing: “My first fumbling attempts at road racing were in the late ‘70s, before starting properly in 1982. My first motorcycle was a bored-
While teaching in 2000, Gabriel had his students join him at the Bonneville Salt Flats to witness the racing action.
out 400cc Honda four-cylinder with smoothbore carbs. I progressed to a Honda 500 Single, with a home-made frame housing an XL trail bike engine. I got my first win and championship on this motorcycle.”
Gabriel then purchased a Peckett and McNab
Honda which had been raced in the World Endurance Championship. He competed at both club and national levels, winning races and a championship, eventually retiring in 1985. He returned to the track in 1991 competing at the Manx Grand Prix. He was thrown from his perch on the second lap of the Senior race at 130 mph, breaking nine bones and puncturing a lung in the process, followed by two days on life support before heeding advice from his doctor to give up road racing altogether.
Several years later Gabriel tried his hand at sprinting, a sport similar to drag racing in the US, only you are racing strictly against the clock, not the competitor in the opposite lane.
“In 1996 one of my students wanted to do something exciting for his major project at ‘A’ level. After considering putting a Ford Cosworth engine in a motorcycle, but unable to meet the constraints of the school timetable, I bought a bike and he made the fairing for it out of fiberglass. We got MIRA to put it in their wind tunnel, and ran it up to 190 mph in the wet on an old airfield. In the meantime I was getting bored with sprinting, and wrote Don Vesco to see what it would take to get this motorcycle out to Bonneville. He wrote back - 18 months later!”
This collection of photos show Stu Rogers and Gabriel setting up the layout for the engine.
“His advice led me to shipping two bikes out to Los Angeles. My brother and I took five school children with us on a big adventure to Speed Week 2000. We flew to LA and drove the remaining 822 miles, and had an amazing learning experience on the Salt Flats. Seeing Al Teague run 395 mph and Tom Burkland 386 mph… of course the special moment was watching Carl Heap in the Phoenix running 252 mph. Wow! I had already been researching engines because as a boy I had a fascination for speed, and read all I could about people like Donald Campbell, Craig Breedlove and Art Arfons. The Land Speed Record was THE ultimate! Of course, being a motorcyclist, Don Vesco was my hero, as Richard Noble became later, but that is another story.”
Gabriel returned home and began assembling a crew to take on the world. “The British have a fantastic heritage regarding speed records. Their innovation and ingenuity is legendary. My chief engineer, Jim Brown, gave up his job to work on the project full time for two years! Others, such as Peter Kay and Stu Rogers have been instrumental in preparing data to help us with the crucial design and prototype phase. Arron Rogers has produced some incredible graphics, while Kevin and David Scott have designed suspension, wheel and brake layouts. “
As for actual “seat time” in a streamliner, I asked Gabriel to share a few of his unique experiences: “The first streamliner I tried was in South Africa, on the Verneuk Pan in the Northern Cape. Ray Wakefield had constructed Motivator, a training bike to simulate Richard Brown's rocket bike chassis. The idea was to test solid wheels on the alkaline surface to establish their effectiveness. The only shame was that it was not possible to test at high speed there.”
This rendering shows what the completed Angelic Bulldog may look like sitting on the salt flats.
He piloted a streamliner of a different nature more recently, created by eccentric designer Dr. Peter Maskus. The Acabion is a prototype motorcycle streamliner designed for highway use. “The testing available for this machine was under two days, but it handled superbly, albeit only up to 150 mph, which was all I had time to achieve.” Gabriel’s test ride took place in Berlin, Germany. I asked if there were plans to run his new streamliner abroad before coming to the US for a shot at the record. “We will run at airfields in the UK in the spring, such as Elvington and Woodbridge.”
And then there’s the name, Angelic Bulldog. I asked the meaning behind such an unusual team moniker: “Angelic comes from my first name, Gabriel, and Bulldog because it is British and it does not let go!” If Gabriel’s tone sounds enthusiastic, I can assure you it’s genuine. Arguably most motorcyclists aren’t angels, but this one’s bark might be worth a listen…
