Peterlee stunt man to attempt 160mph superbike record

Jonny Davies, 32, wears specially-made titanium shoes to 'ski' behind his modified Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX.

The stunt rider from Peterlee, County Durham, accelerates the bike and then climbs off the back of it.

Jonny has a secondary throttle on the adapted bike to accelerate up to speed. Once his run is complete, he then has to leap back into his seat.

Jonny Davies from Peterlee. (Image: SWNS)

The daredevil is now practicing for the record attempt, which he announced on Thursday (July 18) as taking place on 18 August at the Ultimate Supercar Show in Elvington, York.

Jonny already has two world records under his belt. His first came in 2020 after setting the ‘fastest motorcycle handlebar wheelie’, sitting on top of the bike’s bars at 109mph whilst pulling a wheelie.

This was followed in 2022 by the ‘most donuts by a car around a motorcycle performing a wheelie in one minute’, when Jonny and Paul Swift achieved ten at The British Motor Show that year.

He will attempt the record next month. (Image: SWNS)

This time, Jonny hopes to beat the record held since 1999 by one of his heroes, stunt rider Gary Rothwell, who managed 251.5kph (156.3mph).

Jonny says: "Gary was my hero growing up in the Nineties and my main inspiration for stunt riding. I'm hoping he'll be there on the day.

"I am currently getting used to getting off the bike, getting up to speed and then jumping back on.

(Image: SWNS)

"It's important to try and relax into it. During practice I have been getting used to jumping back on, and I have reached the stage where I am concentrating on speed.

"It feels pretty surreal knowing all the testing is done and the next thing to do is jump off the back.

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"I can't lie, the nerves are quite high, however, I just have to cancel them out and pretend I'm just practicing on the stands statically, and just go through the motions, basically.

(Image: SWNS)

"The first practice run of the day is always overwhelming, the speed feels quite high, and the bike's moving all over and you think, holy hell, I'm getting dragged along on my feet.

"But, as the day progresses, your brain kind of normalises it, and that's when you can start getting comfy and start pushing some high speeds."