Heavily modified porsche 935 was used in an attempt to set the world record

[Haasman]

<header class="entry-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: proxima-nova, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">PORSCHE FACTOID: A HEAVILY MODIFIED PORSCHE 935 WAS USED IN AN ATTEMPT TO SET THE WORLD RECORD FOR THE HIGHEST SPEED ACHIEVED ON A BICYCLE

<time class="entry-time" itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2010-11-04T11:00:37+00:00" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; margin-right: 20px;">11/4/2010</time><time class="entry-time" itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2010-11-04T11:00:37+00:00" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; margin-right: 20px;">11:00 EST</time>FILED TO: PORSCHE FACTOIDSBY: PEPPER GIRL7 COMMENTS
</header>When I first spotted the picture below on Jalopnik I thought to myself "I need to know the story behind this picture." As it turns out, there's some interesting history and I learned about a sport that's new to me, motor-pacing.

<center style="box-sizing: inherit;">Will you look at the size of that front sprocket?



</center>150 mph is fast, in any car, Porsche or not. Imagine how fast it must be on a bicycle? That was the speed Jean Claude Rude was trying to reach in his attempt to break the world bicycle speed record in 1979 (that's him in the picture above holding on to the bike).

At the time of Rude's attempt, he needed to hit 128 mph to break the previous record of 127 mph held and set by Jose Meiffret in 1962. Using a heavily modified Porsche 935, a high-speed track in Wolfburgs, Germany (possibly a VW test track?) and Henri Pescarolo as driver (legendary F1 and Le Mans racer), Rude wanted to shatter the record and thought he could hit 150 mph.

As you can see, the Porsche was modified so that Rude could slide in behind the tail of the 935 (notice the roller on the bumper in the picture above) and draft in the slip-stream that created a near perfect vacuum (that means no friction/wind resistance). Rude was well on his way to achieving his goal and breaking the record when the tire on his bike blew out at speeds north of 105 mph. Miraculously, he was able to keep control of the bike and live for a second attempt.

From there, history get's a bit hazy. There are conflicting reports about a second attempt (and even reports that Rude was killed by a train trying to set the record), but I've been unable to find any references or cite any material that can confirm this. One thing's for sure, the attempt made history and was even captured as a 1:43 die-cast by Spark (that's it above).
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[Ernie W]

Christophorus did a story on it, I'll look for it...

[Biancaneve]

Somthing here, in French ... http://www.ledepassionne.com/article...-48208750.html

[StephenAcworth]

Wow: fabulous story! Thanks for posting.
Some more: http://m.gtspirit.com/2012/10/14/biz...he-and-a-bike/

[fryardds]

Interesting, looks like the front fork is reversed to allow the bike and rider to be as close to the rear 'bumper' as possible. How could he hit a train head on? Yikes!

[jos.hall]

"Jean Claude started an investigation on his own to experience the effect of a sudden increase in air resistance, which would occur if he would drop out of the Porsche’s slipstream. He decided that the best way to experience the wall of air was to cycle alongside a railway track and to feel the air displaced by an oncoming train. Instead of being hit by a wall of air, Jean Claude Rude was apparently hit by the train. Ironically a quite rude ending for Rude. "

[Paragon]

I remember seeing this on Wide World of Sports or similar.