Article about FIA land speed record attempts last week at Bonneville
10-03-2006, 07:20 AM
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Article about FIA land speed record attempts last week at Bonneville
Interesting read...
Deseret Morning News, Tuesday, October 03, 2006
World records hard to come by for racers at Salt Flats
<img src="http://deseretnews.com/photos/3352074.jpg">
Mechanical difficulties to blame for problems
By Ray Grass
Deseret Morning News
Blame it on the salt gremlins. Or simply bad luck. Or unseen forces determined to keep a 48-year-old race record from being broken.
The Eco Fire car ends a run on the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover last week.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News
Whatever the cause, world speed record attempts by Terry and Mike Nish and Tom Burkland were plagued with mechanical difficulties. Ron Main and partner/driver George Poteet set a record but were stopped way short of their target speed.
The three teams arrived on the salt last Tuesday, certain that some high-speed records would fall. Their private permit was good through Saturday.
The Nishs were going for a 48-year-old record of 409.27 miles per hour; Burkland was going for a streamliner record of 409.98 mph set back in the 1990s; and Main and Poteet were going for two records -- a 246-mph record set in 1959 and a second set years later at 307 mph.
Nish got a top speed of 390 mph late Saturday; Burkland ran a 404 mph single run on the first day; and Main was able to set the record for a three-liter engine, moving it from 307 to 326. But he came to the salt expecting to hit 370 mph.
"We were all very optimistic, almost right up to the end," said Terry Nish. "We had the people, the cars and the salt was in the best shape in more than 20 years. The gremlins were busy this week."
Burkland suggested that things ran smoother during Speed Week in August because the gremlins were busy with 500 cars, but at this event they were able to concentrate on just three cars.
As a side note to this event, Steve Fossett, the first man to solo a hot-air balloon around the world in 2002, made three passes in Main's steamliner late Saturday. His final run of 298 mph earned him a speedway license to run over 300 mph. Fossett has apparently become interested in high-speed, world-record racing.
Nish started the event with a 673-cubic-inch big block Chevrolet engine capable of turning out more than 3,000 horsepower. He had turned in a 385 mph run with a smaller engine in August.
On Wednesday, on the first run, there were transmission problems and a broken starter. On Thursday, it was determined some of the bearing had been damaged.
"That's a $100,000 engine. We decided we wouldn't risk further damage, so the crew took the car back to Salt Lake, worked all night putting in the smaller engine and then drove back to the track."
Fuel problems ended runs on Friday. Saturday, on its final run, even with magneto problems, the car ran 390, which was not enough for a return run.
Burkland ran a 404 mph run on Wednesday but hurt a piston and rod in one of the car's two engines. The crew spent Thursday repairing damage. On Friday, shortly after breaking away from the push car, and about one mile into the 12-mile track, the car's driveshaft broke. The shaft is next to Burkland's legs and caused some bruising. Consensus is that had the car been up to full speed, the incident could have been serious.
Main had problems getting engines to run properly early on. Finally, on Friday, Poteet set a record of 318. On Saturday, he upped the record to 326 mph.
"Still, it wasn't what we'd hoped. We had our problems," he said. "We were only able to give the engine 27 pounds of boost. Normally, it should have been around 40 pounds.
"We were confident in the beginning. This was a car clinic for us. We got a little greedy but were humbled," he said.
Main used a 122 cubic inch "garden variety" engine, similar to those found in the Saturn and Cobalt model cars, "except this one is turning out close to 1,000 horsepower."
The car holds a high speed of 345 mph in the three-liter class.
The three cars will be returned to their respective shops to be fixed, tested and tuned in preparation for next year's speed racing events.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: grass@desnews.com
Deseret Morning News, Tuesday, October 03, 2006
World records hard to come by for racers at Salt Flats
<img src="http://deseretnews.com/photos/3352074.jpg">
Mechanical difficulties to blame for problems
By Ray Grass
Deseret Morning News
Blame it on the salt gremlins. Or simply bad luck. Or unseen forces determined to keep a 48-year-old race record from being broken.
The Eco Fire car ends a run on the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover last week.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News
Whatever the cause, world speed record attempts by Terry and Mike Nish and Tom Burkland were plagued with mechanical difficulties. Ron Main and partner/driver George Poteet set a record but were stopped way short of their target speed.
The three teams arrived on the salt last Tuesday, certain that some high-speed records would fall. Their private permit was good through Saturday.
The Nishs were going for a 48-year-old record of 409.27 miles per hour; Burkland was going for a streamliner record of 409.98 mph set back in the 1990s; and Main and Poteet were going for two records -- a 246-mph record set in 1959 and a second set years later at 307 mph.
Nish got a top speed of 390 mph late Saturday; Burkland ran a 404 mph single run on the first day; and Main was able to set the record for a three-liter engine, moving it from 307 to 326. But he came to the salt expecting to hit 370 mph.
"We were all very optimistic, almost right up to the end," said Terry Nish. "We had the people, the cars and the salt was in the best shape in more than 20 years. The gremlins were busy this week."
Burkland suggested that things ran smoother during Speed Week in August because the gremlins were busy with 500 cars, but at this event they were able to concentrate on just three cars.
As a side note to this event, Steve Fossett, the first man to solo a hot-air balloon around the world in 2002, made three passes in Main's steamliner late Saturday. His final run of 298 mph earned him a speedway license to run over 300 mph. Fossett has apparently become interested in high-speed, world-record racing.
Nish started the event with a 673-cubic-inch big block Chevrolet engine capable of turning out more than 3,000 horsepower. He had turned in a 385 mph run with a smaller engine in August.
On Wednesday, on the first run, there were transmission problems and a broken starter. On Thursday, it was determined some of the bearing had been damaged.
"That's a $100,000 engine. We decided we wouldn't risk further damage, so the crew took the car back to Salt Lake, worked all night putting in the smaller engine and then drove back to the track."
Fuel problems ended runs on Friday. Saturday, on its final run, even with magneto problems, the car ran 390, which was not enough for a return run.
Burkland ran a 404 mph run on Wednesday but hurt a piston and rod in one of the car's two engines. The crew spent Thursday repairing damage. On Friday, shortly after breaking away from the push car, and about one mile into the 12-mile track, the car's driveshaft broke. The shaft is next to Burkland's legs and caused some bruising. Consensus is that had the car been up to full speed, the incident could have been serious.
Main had problems getting engines to run properly early on. Finally, on Friday, Poteet set a record of 318. On Saturday, he upped the record to 326 mph.
"Still, it wasn't what we'd hoped. We had our problems," he said. "We were only able to give the engine 27 pounds of boost. Normally, it should have been around 40 pounds.
"We were confident in the beginning. This was a car clinic for us. We got a little greedy but were humbled," he said.
Main used a 122 cubic inch "garden variety" engine, similar to those found in the Saturn and Cobalt model cars, "except this one is turning out close to 1,000 horsepower."
The car holds a high speed of 345 mph in the three-liter class.
The three cars will be returned to their respective shops to be fixed, tested and tuned in preparation for next year's speed racing events.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: grass@desnews.com
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