MTB News: Downhill expert and speed junkie Max Stöckl has set a new world speed record on a production mountain bike in the Chilean Atacama Desert. The Austrian was 167,6 km/h fast on his Mondraker Summum and thus topped the record he set himself in 2011.
Some of you may already be familiar with the name of Max Stöckl: the Tyrolean has been active in the downhill scene for many years, but the now 42-year-old made the headlines primarily with his daring speed records. In 2007 he raced down a snow slope in Chile with a production bike and was unbelievably fast at 210 km/h. Such speeds are much easier to reach on prepared snow slopes with the appropriate spiked tires than on "real" ground, which offers significantly more resistance and is also more unpredictable.
In 2011 Stöckl ventured onto a gravel track in Nicaragua and raced over the volcanic cone of Cerro Negro – 164,95 km/h! World record again. But the ambitious Austrian didn't want to rest on his laurels: “This run wasn't fun enough, it wasn't a real challenge. When I got home from Nicaragua, I immediately started looking for a new mountain." he reports. Together with his sponsor Red Bull, he launched the V-Max project and went in search of a suitable mountain, which he finally found in Chile.
The choice fell on the Atacama Desert on the South American Pacific coast: In this hostile lunar landscape, a nameless mountain rises up, the summit of which is almost 4.000m above sea level and which offers optimal conditions for the world record attempt. So the track was found, but the material also plays a decisive role at such speeds. However, custom-made products were only used for the suit and helmet: “My idea of downhill mountain biking is that everything should be purchasable. That means I don't want any special parts on the bike. It should remain a wheel and not a motorcycle without an engine," so Stockl. His world record ride was a Mondraker Summum Carbon Pro Team.
One or the other may ask what is so special about simply rolling down a steep mountain. Above all, the air resistance and the forces acting on the rider and bike demand everything from the pilot: “If you want to imagine the air resistance, you only have to stick your hand out of the car window at 150, 160 km/h. This force acts on the bike on the entire body. Although I'm not a puny contemporary, it's physically not without it for me too!"
After a few training runs and the optimal preparation of the slope, the time had come. After 650 of the total of 1200 m, Stöckl reached its top speed of 167,6 km/h. After a total of 20 seconds it was all over again. Now a little rest awaits the old, new world record holder: "We've worked towards this day for two years, to stand on this mountain. We had tears in our eyes right from the start. That was very emotional. Now I want to go home to my family and see my daughter grow up!”
