The area is a remnant of the pleistocene lake bonneville and is the largest of many salt flats located west of the great salt lake. Southern california timing association scta is a competition sanctioning body that maintains. Bonneville speed week 2006 salt of the earth hot rod. Grandnephew of burt munro adds his name to the scta record. Land speed records generally bring to mind the streamliners as the scream across the bonneville salt flats at speeds of over 750 miles per hour, but theres actually more to setting land speed records than just the streamliners. Aaron brown, thirteentime land speed record holder and twentyyear nascar icon, will be behind the wheel of a 2018 ford fusion nascar monster energy cup series stock car at the scta bonneville salt flats ut speed week. He travelled to compete at the bonneville salt flats, attempting to set world speed. Bonneville salt flats wendover 2020 all you need to. The inside story of the land speed record in the sixties hawley, samuel on. Since then i have ordered several used books and audiobooks and couldnt be happier. It is located along i80 near the utahnevada border.
Section 6 bonneville nationals car records classes with not listed record are considered open. The current outright world land speed record was set at black rock desert, usa. Bonneville salt flats for beginners hot rod magazine. The bonneville salt flats events orientation overview website. The property is public land managed by the bureau of land management and is known for land speed records at the bonneville speedway. Scta southern california timing association facebook. Team vesco hits 503 mph at bonneville salt flats autoweek.
The countdown is on for speed week, the landspeed racing event of the year. The main road just 15 miles east of wendover heads right out to the center of the flats. Records up to 1935 were predominately set on beaches before the bonneville salt flats in the usa became the preferred venue for attempts and was home of. Book recommendations, author interviews, editors picks, and more.
Where cars try to hit mach 1, the salt of the earth is crumbling. Scta southern california timing association, orosi, california. Race results, photos, schedules and class information. Motor vehicle use is limited by seasonal closure during the spring when the salt is moist or has standing water on the surface. Within its 306 pages, carl will share with you all of the engineering issues the team encountered right through to race prep and the races themselves in his easytoread, conversational style. Bonneville salt flats for beginners salt fever is bonneville on your bucket list. To be able to stand on the same salt that witnessed breaking the land speed record is humbling. All the current national records are listed in chapter of the ama rule bookpdf file link below. The salt flats are about 12 miles long and 5 miles wide with total area coverage of just over 46 square miles. Endurance racing at bonneville during speed trials fuel. Land speed books land speed racing history greg wapling. A facility this large is operating on a space bigger than most cities in the usa. The bonneville salt flats are a 30,000 acre expanse of hard, white salt crust on the western edge of the great salt lake basin in utah. Before joe walker, fellow trapper and frontier explorer jedediah smith was perhaps the first white man to cross the salt flats in 1827 while.
If there is not a record listed for a particular class, that record is considered available. If beautiful vistas are what you are looking for then boondocking bonneville salt flats utah is worth a visit. Land speed record breaker, single portfolio motor book. There are different racing categories as well as classes for the cars, the motorcycles and even the go karts and bar stools of all things. The bonneville salt flats is the largest vehicle racing operational space in the world you could put a dozen nascar facilities inside the place and still have miles of room around it. Bonneville salt flats ama national records database. Triumph land speed record 2016 triumph motorcycles. My not so record breaking week at the bonneville salt flats. The bonneville salt flats is one of the most unique natural features in utah, stretching over 30,000 acres.
Salt flats survival guide for bonneville speed week and. In 1967, burt munro made his seventh trip to the bonneville salt flats. The utah salt flats racing association is a proud organization that continues to grow and provide opportunities for competitors to come to the bonneville salt flats. Fia world land speed records federation internationale. The situation pictured is outrageous, incredibly dangerous, and impossible to repeat today. Fastest motorcycle speed achieved guinness world records. How to build a bonneville salt flats motorcycle custom. The salt lake tribune editor bill rishel helped make bonneville a reality with the conception of the idea that the salt flats could be used for racing. Scta bonneville speed week shootout at the salt flats. The fims refusal to ratify an amasanctioned record didnt seem to matter. This book will immerse you into the challenges of building and racing a porsche 928 on the bonneville salt flats. It is from benjamin bonneville that the salt flats and ancient lake derive their name, although there is no historical record to show that bonneville himself ever saw the area that bears his name. Rulebooks, tshirts, hats, books, movies, and more bonneville goodies. One bonneville tradition that tells you a lot about the nature of bonneville competitors is the order that cars make record return runs.
Thompson is due to attend speed week at the bonneville salt flats in utah in september, but admits to furiously refreshing her computer to learn more details about the accident. The bonneville salt flats in utah have hosted speed chasers for. Munro set his first new zealand speed record in 1938 and later set seven more. Last april, dan strohl mentioned that burt munros bonneville salt flats record was still standing after 50 years, and that the 50th anniversary commemorative run was coming up on august 12 at the bonneville salt flats. The bonneville salt flats are found west of the great salt lake, in western utah. All the current national records are listed in the back section chapter of the ama rule book.
Rollie free stretched out over his vincent black shadow at on the bonneville salt flats, clad only in a bathing suit and tennis shoes, squeezing an extra 1mph out of his machine, and recording 150mph. The record came for the average speed across two runs, but robinson topped out at an incredible 634 kmh 394 mph for a single run. Located in the great salt lake desert, the bonneville salt flats are both a geographic and landspeed marvel. The first t120 bonneville model was unveiled at the earls court bike show and went on sale in 1959.
World land speed record and add a new entry to the record book. As far as anyone in america knew, a triumphpowered streamliner was the worlds fastest motorcycle. Check out this beginners guide to outright land speed records and one of the places theyre synonymous with. Bonneville land speed records these are the certified car and motorcycle records as of speed week 2019 and will be reflected in the southern california timing association 2020 rule book. Bonneville speed week 1959 exceptional photos by william. Riding his top oilack attack on 25 september 2010, robinson achieved an average speed of 605.
Amateur land speed racing on utahs bonneville salt flats crossed the. The bonneville salt flats are a densely packed salt pan in tooele county in northwestern utah. There, a crusty yet perfectly flat strip measuring nine miles long by just 80 feet wide was formed 50,000 years ago when a 45,000squaremile sea receded in what is now western utah. At the bonneville salt flats on august 23, 2006 the fastest man on earth, andy green, sped to. The iconic bonneville name was conceived following johnny allens landspeed record runs at the salt flats in september 1956, when he reached the record breaking speed of 193. The book covers the races to 1938 and at the back lists the first three in each class year by year. Heres what a 427mph crash on the bonneville salt flats. The area was flat, there was nothing to crash into, and it pretty much offered a perfect place for man to unleash his machine to its maximum potential. The inside story of donald campbells last land speed record car. Photograph the bonneville salt flats, bonneville salt flats.
Coming soon 2019 ama bonneville supplemental regulations. Spectators make the extra effort to be at the track at sunrise to watch the days record runs. The record he set at that 1967 event was not the first land speed record he established at bonneville. The bonneville salt flats are located just north of i80, and just on the utah side of the utahnevada border. Boondocking bonneville salt flats utah travel is sweet. I t might be the most famous motorcycle photograph ever. Dlra dry lakes racers australia pendine timing association, uk. Bonneville a century of speed bonneville a century of speed hard. Heres how to show up with a clue and leave with an infection.
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