The history of motor paced cycling is pretty hairy, with numerous crashes and fatalities (often due to tyres blowing out at high speeds).
Frenchman José Meiffret, set a record 204.73 km/h (127.21 mph) behind a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL on an Autobahn at Freiburg, Germany, on 16 July 1962. His bicycle had a 130-tooth chainring and wooden rims.
Here's an extract from the historian Peter Nye:
"Motorpace racing was glamorous but dangerous. Falls were common, largely because bicycle tires tended to burst at speed. The riders wore neither helmets nor gloves. They depended on fast reflexes, the rude health of youth, and luck. Despite having all three, Bobby Walthour collected an impressive (or dismaying) inventory of injuries over his career: 28 fractures of the right collarbone, 18 of the left, 32 broken ribs, and 60 stitches to his face and head. Once, according to family history, he was given up for dead in Paris Parc De Princes and taken to a morgue, where he regained consciousness on the slab."