A BARROW-born motorsports enthusiast has broken a land speed record in the USA.

Mike Griffiths, who now lives in Boulder, Colorado, has set a new class land-speed record of 124.9mph in a homemade 500cc sidecar.

The record took five years to break and with the help of his brother Dave Griffiths, also from Barrow, he was able to break the record at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

Talking about his journey from Barrow across the pond and how he became a world record holder, Mike said: “I’ve always been into motorsports, my dad got me started pretty early on in life.

“When we moved from Barrow over here in 1968, I got more involved in motorcycles and began racing, so motorsports have always been a part of my life.

“I’d visited Bonneville Salt Flats for their annual Speed Week event as a spectator and one day when I was there it occurred to me, I could probably do that and race myself. So, when I got back to Boulder I sold the motorbikes I had and started buying all the machinery then bought a Kawasaki ex500, which I used to build the frame of the bike.

“In 2013 I took the bike to Bonneville for the first time but unfortunately the event got rained off so I couldn’t race.

“So, I spent a year modifying and improving the bike until the next event but that was rained off as well and moved to California.

“The third year I came back and finally got the chance to race the bike on the salt flats, I managed a maximum speed of 118mph.

“So again, I went back home and continued to make changes to the bike, the same thing happened last year where I got up to 120mph but that still wasn’t fast enough to break the record.

“Finally, this year the bike ran really well, and the conditions were good, and I was able to set a new land speed record.”

Mr Griffiths was full of praise for his fellow Barrovian brother.

He said: “My brother was a huge help with prepping the bike to race, dealing with the logistics and technical inspections. It was a huge relief having him there as my right-hand man.

“After we broke the record, I said to him, I don’t want to do anything like this without you.

“It was great to have him and my wife there when I broke the record.

“A phenomenal experience for everyone.”

Mr Griffiths also talked about what it was like to be travelling down the salt flats at such high speed.

He said: “It’s so intense but over so quickly, I noticed a leak somewhere on the bike whilst driving, for the few seconds I was thinking about it, I was travelling at 120mph so when I re-focussed, I had completely lost myself in the track.

“But I was able to get it together and break the record.”

Mike explained how his grandfather, Walter Sim worked at Vickers shipyard and lived on Friars Lane. Both brothers lived in Barrow as young boys.

“It’s a great adventure for two lads from Abbey Road,” he joked.