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Utah Travel Headlines

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Land Speed Records Fall at Bonneville Salt Flats

Speed Week is underway at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The New York Times has this report, under this headline:

Ford Fuel Cell Car Goes 200 M.P.H. at the Bonneville Salt Flats

Here are excerpts:

Mr. (Mujeeb) Ijaz is ecstatic: “We set the first record for fastest fuel cell electric car. We had a five-mile run. We were at 204 m.p.h. at mile four and 207 m.p.h. at the mile-five cool down line. We have Champagne going on right now. I wish you were here.”

It’s Speed Week at Bonneville, a yearly ritual of triple-digit one-upmanship across an oblivion of white salt.
One racer has already crashed at 170 m.p.h. Mr. Ijaz, manager of fuel cell vehicle engineering at Ford, and his team are running a fuel cell-powered electric car. Announced to the world in July, the Ford Hydrogen Fusion 999 is named after the car that Henry Ford drove to a land speed record in 1904. Mr. Ford went 91.37 m.p.h. This week, Mr. Ijaz’s goal was to hit 200.

Here are photos from Speed Week.

This Deseret Morning News article gave a good preview of events. Here are excerpts:

A record number of drivers preregistered for this year's event on Bonneville Salt Flats. The early count was around 520, which is about 100 more than last year.

Some suggest all this new interest is because of increased publicity on salt-flats racing. Others think it may have something to do with the movie "The World's Fastest Indian," released a few years ago, which portrays the life and Bonneville record attempts of Burt Munro of New Zealand in the 1950s.

The next event at Bonneville will be the annual World of Speed, Sept 12-15.

This website has good information about Salt Flats racing and events.

17 Comments:

  • At 10:29 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Is there anothere event in Oct 3-6, 2007 this year? I sent a message but no one has replied. Please advise

     
  • At 11:05 AM, Blogger Utah Blog Admin said…

    I don't know of any events scheduled at Bonneville during Oct 3-6, 2007. Sorry.

     
  • At 7:22 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Do snowmobiles run and how do I find the speeds of them?

     
  • At 7:43 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    My son is blind and the only way he will get to drive a car is on open lands He is 21. Would it be possible for him to drive a car on the flats

     
  • At 9:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Where can you stay for the week during the September races? from Michigan

     
  • At 9:41 AM, Blogger Utah Blog Admin said…

    The closest lodging is in Wendover, NV.

    Second closest is Tooele, Utah, and then Salt Lake City.

    Our website has lodging info for those places in Utah: www.utah.com/lodging/

     
  • At 7:45 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    im 17 and i have a 50 cc scooter ive made modifications to it and its really fast now ive taken it to 85 by my self and it can do more but im scared to go faster because of traffic can i race it there

     
  • At 9:11 AM, Blogger Utah Blog Admin said…

    People can run private vehicles on the Salt Flats during Speed Week and at other times.

    Speed Week is a great event with lots of activities, and crowds of people. If you want to participate you need to register and follow their guidelines.

    If you just want a place to ride fast, perhaps the Miller Motorsports Park track is a better option. It has a controlled environment and was built for speed.

     
  • At 7:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Wednesday the 8th October 2008 i will be Vegas and was thinking about coming to Bonnevillie to watch some racing, is there any envents worth watching. Regards Darren from New Zealand

     
  • At 6:08 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    i have 7 buddies coming with me to speed week this friday for the weekend.
    was i supposed to get tickets of some kind??

    can i use my scooter around the pits? the narrow wheels are like skate board wheels.

    bruce

     
  • At 12:39 PM, Blogger Utah Blog Admin said…

    You can get tickets when you arrive. Narrow wheels don't do well on the Salt Flats, but you can always try.

     
  • At 8:12 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Can't wait to come out and see how fast my bike will go!

     
  • At 3:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I was looking for more info on the racer who crashed, do you know there name and what date of the crash?

     
  • At 9:26 AM, Blogger Utah Blog Admin said…

    Montana motorcyclist dies in 239 mph crash

    6 days ago

    WENDOVER, Utah (AP) — A 47-year-old record-setting motorcycle racer from Montana has died when he lost control and crashed while traveling at 239 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

    Investigators weren't sure what caused Cliff Gullett, of Bozeman, Mont., to lose control of the motorcycle Wednesday during a time trial.

    The American Motorcyclist Association said on its Web site that Gullett was competing in the 500cc Streamliner class at the Salt Flats, where drivers go for speed records every summer on the flat, open space just east of the Nevada state line.

    Gullett owned Team Bozeman Motorsports, a motorcycle and snowmobile dealership. He had set a handful of world land-speed records and wanted to eventually become the first to reach 400 mph on a two-wheeled Streamliner, according to an interview last week with The Billings Gazette.

    Curt Lance, Team Bozeman's general manager, said "Cliff always told me that if anything happened on the Salt, he wanted it to be quick and not lingering. He died doing the thing he loved to do most — racing at Bonneville."

     
  • At 3:54 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Check http://www.saltflats.com for their schedule

     
  • At 8:13 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    From Greenville, SC: When is the next speed record event on the Bonneville salt track?... today is Nov 1st 2008

     
  • At 9:27 AM, Blogger Utah Blog Admin said…

    We have posted a schedule of major Salt Flats race events for 2009. See it here:

    http://www.utah.com/travelheadlines/2008/11/bonneville-salt-flats-2009-racing.html

     

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