Marco George, 31, from Hampshire (UK) broke the record for fastest speed on a motorcycle while performing a headstand / handstand on the 17th August 2019 when he reached 122.59 km/h (76.17 mph).
Marco has been a competition stunt rider since 2014 and has been a stunt double for Channel 4 and on an introduction to ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.
His journey began in 2017 when Marco wanted to add handstands into competition routines.
Once he got comfortable with a headstand whilst moving, Marco kept trying to beat that speed as a personal challenge that tested his bottle/strength and skill - this then developed into chasing a Guinness World Records title to become officially the fastest!
The whole process took three years, from learning to do a headstand to attempting the record. In between practicing he was competing and working on other aspects of riding.
Once the process escalated further he found out that Straightliners, an organisation that specialises in facilitating land speed records, would allow him to make an attempt, resulting in seven months of preparation.
This preparation consisted of dedicated core training to hold his body straight against wind resistance, also continual work on timing and techniques.
Marco was practicing two to three days a week with the headstands, normal stunt riding had well and truly taken a back seat and the fastest headstand became an obsession.
The lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic gave Marco a lot of time to eat healthily and give his body a rest.
Stunt riding is a very demanding sport, and Marco believes you will always have an ache or pain in more than one place.
Going forward there are other records that Marco has his sights on.
However, if anyone else wants to try and break this record, Marco would love to battle it out and see if a faster speed is possible.
Marco would like to attempt Dave Coates' record of fastest speed while riding a motorcycle backwards, which is currently set at a death defying 151.7mph.
He's also eyeing up Gary Rothwell’s record for the fastest speed dragged behind a motorcycle. He has massive respect for both riders, but sees Gary’s record title as the ultimate challenge!
"They take exactly the right amount of speed, skill, sparks and straight crazy to attempt and they come with huge consequences if things go south," Marco stated.
Achieving this record is the pinnacle achievement of Marco’s riding career so far - from a young age, he bought the Guinness World Records books to look at dangerous records that involved speed or strength.
"I think every child and probably most adults have read the book and at some point or another have seen a record that relates to them, and made them imagine getting a place in the book, their own little piece of history," Marco said.
"If I made it into the book, it would be something I would keep and remember forever."
Well luckily for Marco, he did make it onto the pages of Guinness World Record 2021 and will be immortalised in the record books!
You can find Marco alongside other incredible talents in the Recordmania chapter of Guinness World Records 2021, which is available to order now.
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