![]() ![]() She smiled and said, “The challenge.” When asked how she got into racing, what inspired her, she says, “Nobody inspired me to race. I asked Valerie what inspires her to take these risks. You have to have confidence in yourself, your vehicle and your team.” You have to understand the limits of your machine and manage risk. When you’re racing, you have to manage your fear. My execution has to be perfect and every run is a chance to make history. Sometimes the run that feels the slowest is actually your fastest. I don’t think about how fast I’m going and inside the streamliner you don’t feel the wind so you don’t feel how fast you are going. In third gear you hit 335 and in fourth you can hit 363 mph.” Your peripheral vision helps you focus on where you are on the track. I get tunnelvision, only paying attention to the RPMs and I go for it. I am going very fast and the ground is very close. Then I am off! The experience is loud and bumpy and yet somehow serene. I touch the controls and know I won’t let go of them until the run is over. “The engine comes to life and I get a burst of energy but then I go into a calm zone… totally focused. They close the canopy over me and it is quiet for a moment but my focus is to make history. I am form-fitted into it, being strapped in, like a sardine in a can. My team is pushing and pulling me into a tiny cockpit that was made just to fit me. Getting my head around what is about to happen. “It starts with me walking to the streamliner in my fire suit and helmet. So I had to ask Valerie, what does it feel like to pilot a Streamliner to over 300 miles per hour? ![]() Even at that speed, the wind becomes a solid wall of force. The fastest I ever went was 160mph on a 1000R Ninja. But we’re talking topping out at like 110 or 120mph. Most of us who ride motorcycles have “gone fast” on a bike. She is also known as Australia’s fastest female motorcycle land speed racer and was recently included in the Dealernews “Top 100 Leaders in Powersports” list. She is also an inductee in the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame, a member of numerous 200 MPH Clubs and one 300 MPH Club. She is the world’s fastest female motorcycle streamliner racer, hitting an incredible 328.467mph on the BUB 7 Streamliner motorcycle and is an eight-time Speed Record holder. Valerie Thompson is without a doubt the Queen of Speed. ![]()
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