Rollie Free Hall of Fame in 1998. Rollie Free Roland "Rollie" Free (November 18, 1900 – October 11, 1984) was a motorcycle racer best known for breaking the American motorcycle land speed record in 1948 on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. The picture of Free, prone and wearing a bathing suit, has been described as the most famous picture in motorcycling. After an early career in motorcycle retail, Free became a regional racer of the 1920s and 30’s on Indian motorcycles. In 1923, Free tried out for his first national motorcycle race, the 100-Mile National Championships on the board track in Kansas
Land speed racing Land speed racing Land speed racing is a form of motorsport. Land speed racing is best known for the efforts to break the absolute land speed record, but it is not limited to specialist vehicles. A record is defined as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs (commonly called "passes"). Under current FIA rules, two runs are required in opposite directions within one hour, and a new record mark must exceed the previous one by at least one percent to be validated. Records are set in either the flying kilometre or flying mile. The sport's