Record Breaking Places

The first white man to discover the salt flats was a trader, trapper and explorer called Jedediah Smith, when he returned from an expedition to California in 1827. In 1833 another trapper called Joseph Reddeford Walker mapped and explored the areas around the Great Salt Lake. He was employed by a Captain Benjamin L. E. Bonneville and it is after him that the salt flats are named. Further topographical expeditions occurred in 1845, 1849 and 1859 with the first recorded crossing of the salt flats in 1845 by Captain John C. Fremont's survey party.

The Bonneville Salt Flats are covered with a shallow layer of standing water each winter. In the following months the water slowly evaporates, while the winds smooth the surface adding more salts to the existing, which range in thickness from six feet to less than an inch. The salt surface contains potassium, magnesium, lithium and sodium chloride and is a white, crystalline aggregate that is porous, but hard and rigid enough to support vehicles and most importantly, perfectly level. Over this vast expanse it is even possible to see the curvature of the Earth.

Racing commences...

It was in 1896 that the salt flats were first used for racing when the publisher William Randolph Hearst, in a publicity stunt, hired William Rishel to attempt a crossing on bicycle. He completed the journey in 22 hours. The first recorded automobile attempt on the salt flats was by Teddy Tezlaff in 1914 when he drove a Blitzen Benz 141.73mph to set an unofficial record.

The most famous of the racers on the Bonneville Salt Flats was David Abbot "Ab" Jenkins who began his racing in 1924 when driving a Studebaker he raced and beat a special excursion train by ten minutes across the flats. In the 1930's and 40's he went on to set more world records than any other man culminating in the breaking of 26 world and American records in his 'Mormon Meteor III' on Labor Day 1950. As a devote Mormon he would not race on a Sunday and from 1940 to 1943 he was mayor of Salt Lake City.

Malcolm Campbell's Bonneville record...

After Malcolm Campbell set his 276.82mph record on the beach at Daytona in March 1935 and set about looking for a better venue, it was Ab Jenkins who lured Campbell to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Although Campbell had known of the salt flats for some years, after his experience at Verneuk Pan in 1929, he had decided that it was better to deal with the devil you know and had decided to continue his attempts at Daytona Beach. But now, in 1935, 'Bluebird' was loosing traction on the sands and it was obvious to Campbell that to achieve the best from the vehicle, and break through the magic 300mph barrier, it was time to try 'Bluebird' at Bonneville.

Bonneville Salt Flats had definite advantages over Daytona Beach. First, the salt was smooth once the one-inch high ridges were scrapped off, so would provide greater traction. Second, the salt was hard, especially in the early morning following the coldness in the night, so would give greater acceleration. Third, the course was 4,000 feet wide, at least eight times greater than between the dunes and the sea at Daytona Beach, so provide greater safety for Campbell and the spectators. Fourth, the run was perfectly straight for 13 miles. And fifth, the weather was usually consistent sunshine, so reduce the delays caused by waiting for acceptable weather conditions.

The one disadvantage of Bonneville Salt Flats was the reduction in power as a result of the high altitude. The thinner air is bad for carburation and it was calculated that this could be as much as 18% for 'Bluebird'. However the thinner air also meant that there would be less air resistance and this was estimated at around 14% giving a potential loss in power of 4% at Bonneville compared to the sea level venue of Daytona Beach.

In September 1935, a 13-mile course was scrapped twice to remove all ridges and a line 8 inches wide of diesel oil was laid on the salt surface as a guide. This black line showed up well against the white surface and helped Malcolm Campbell to follow a straight course. The first run was on September 2nd at 8.30am, after the bottom lip of the fairings to the front wheels was removed to prevent the build up of salt deposits. The surface seemed to work well for 'Bluebird' and Campbell was able to run the car over the whole course and reach a speed of around 240mph. There was none of the vibration and resulting problems that Campbell had experienced at Daytona. The car was readied for an attempt on the record the following day.

The first run was at 7:12am on September 3rd, 1935 as Campbell began the outward run in a northerly direction. This first run was 304.11mph for the measured mile, but it was not without its problems. On entering the timing area, Campbell closed the flap over the air intake to the radiator as intended, but the cockpit began to fill with fumes from the engine. Eventually he exited the measured mile and easing off the accelerator the fumes abated. However as Campbell tried to return to the black line that he had momentarily lost, the near-side front tyre blew and he had to fight with 'Bluebird', finally bringing her to a stop about half a mile away from his mechanics with this front tyre in flames. These were extinguished and all four wheels were changed before 'Bluebird' was ready for the return run.

Campbell started the car but an official arrived to say that one of the timing wires was broken, so 'Bluebird' had to be switched off to stop the water from boiling, which occurred if the car was stationary for too long, while the wire was repaired. When the signal to commence was finally given, 'Bluebird' refused to start and there was barely five minutes of the permitted one-hour remaining to complete the second run. Campbell did not close the flap during this run and kept his foot hard down throughout the measured mile. Heading this time from north to south Campbell was aware that there was an embankment to the highway. This meant that he had to stop as quickly as possible and for the first time he applied the brakes at 250mph, which worked well stopping the car eventually with some 250 yards to spare. The average of the two runs did indeed break the 300mph barrier at 301.129mph, although due to a timing miscalculation this speed was not confirmed till late in the day. Malcolm Campbell had succeeded in setting the first Land Speed Record above 300mph and the Bonneville Salt Flats was firmly established as The venue for setting records.

Eyston and Cobb...

George Eyston set new records with 'Thunderbolt' at Bonneville in 1937 at 312.20mph and then in 1938 at 345.49mph. John Cobb followed in the 'Railton' with 350.20mph on the 15th September 1938. Both these drivers with their cars were at Bonneville at the same time in August and September 1938. With the record back with Cobb it was Eyston's turn to fight back and a day later on 16th September 1938 he achieved a two way speed of 357.50mph for the flying mile. Cobb refused to be beaten and he returned the following year with 'Railton' to set a new record at Bonneville of 369.70mph for the flying kilometre. Afterwards he went on to set new world records for 5 miles, 5 kilometres, 10 miles and 10 kilometres.

The Second World War prevented any further attempts and it was not until John Cobb returned to Bonneville in 1947 that he became the first to break the 400mph barrier covering a measured mile at 403.135mph. Unfortunately he was not able to convert two runs into a record above 400mph, but did raise the Land Speed Record to 394.196mph at the end of his seven weeks at Bonneville.

One further advantage of Bonneville Salt Flats over other venues for record attempts was that with such a large area available it was possible to set up a circular course and therefore establish endurance records. Previously such records could only be set at tracks such as Brooklands where the maximum safe speed was now relatively low. For example, Ab Jenkins set a 24 hour record of 153.823mph and a 48 hour record of 148.642mph in 1936 in his 'Mormon Meteor'. Other records set by Jenkins were for distance endurance records over 100, 200 and 500 miles between 1934 and 1935.

Donald Campbell takes on the Americans...

In 1960 Bonneville was again the venue for further attempts at raising the Land Speed Record. The four American contenders were Athol Graham, Dr Nathan Ostrich, Art Arfons and Mickey Thompson and the one British contender was Donald Campbell. On his first attempt, Graham's car turned over and landed several miles down the course with Graham, unfortunately dying of his injuries an hour later in hospital. Ostrich in the 'Flying Caduceus' had problems with the air intake ducts and wheel vibrations and Art Arfons had clutch difficulties, which reduced his car's speed. Only Mickey Thompson in 'Challenger' seemed able to make a serious attempt achieving 406.60mph on his outward run. Unfortunately a transmission shaft broke on the return run so Cobb still held the record. This left the way clear for Donald Campbell.

The first run of the 'Bluebird CN7', which had been brought across from Britain by Donald Campbell, was on 5th September 1960 and the car reached about 120mph. On the return run the speed increased to 150mph and was then taken back to the hangar at the USAF base in Wendover for minor modifications to the steering and engine. Further runs on the salt increased the speed steadily through 170mph and 250mph to 300mph.

On Friday 16th September 1960, exactly 13 years to the day after the then current World Record set by John Cobb in the Railton, Campbell and the Bluebird Team prepared for Run 6. The Bristol-Siddeley Proteus 705 gas turbine engine, giving a maximum power of 4,250hp was started and Campbell held 'Bluebird' on the brakes till the compressor speed reached 9,000rpm. 'Bluebird' accelerated away as Campbell let off the breaks and reached a speed of between 325 and 350mph in only 1.7 miles as Campbell followed the black oil guide line on the salt.

At this point the car spun, rolled to the right, then took a 232 yard leap in the air, followed by two 50 yard bounces hitting its nose and tail on the salt and ripping off both right-hand side wheels before finally coming to a stop. Miraculously, Campbell had survived the fastest car accident in history with cuts, bruises and other injuries including a fracture to his scull. The fact that this accident was survivable was due to the safety straps, his helmet and the strong construction of 'Bluebird'.

The accident was attributed to slight cross winds, the condition of the course and greater output torque from the engine than anticipated. 'Bluebird' was rebuilt, this time with the addition of a tail fin, but Donald Campbell never raced it again at Bonneville. Instead he took 'Bluebird' to another salt lake called Lake Eyre, this time in Australia, where he finally proved the abilities of both himself and the vehicle.

The Golden 60's...

The 1960's saw the change from pure wheel-driven vehicles to jet thrust vehicles with all the nine world records set in only 14 months from October 1964 to November 1965 taking place on the Bonneville Salt Flats. This period saw the record increase, by well over 175mph, from 413.20mph set by Tom Green in 'Wingfoot Express' to 600.60mph set by Craig Breedlove in 'Spirit of America Sonic 1'.

The record for wheel-driven vehicles was also increased when two days before Craig Breedlove broke through the 600mph barrier, Bob Summers in 'Goldenrod' took the wheel-driven record to 409.27mph on 12th November 1965. The car was only in third gear but did have four Chrysler V8 fuel injected engines producing a total of 2,400bhp. This record remained for over 35 years and was finally beaten by Don Vesco in his 'Turbinator' on 18th October 2001 when he finally set a two-way average over the measured mile of 458.440mph. Again, as with the previous record this was set on the Salt Flats at Bonneville. These runs not only took the outright record from 'Goldenrod' but also the class record for turbines set by Donald Campbell in 'Bluebird CN7' on Lake Eyre in 1964.

Not only has Bonneville been used for vehicles powered by the internal combustion engine, turbine, jet and rocket engines, but also it has been used for electric powered vehicles. On 22nd October 1999 Pat Rummerfield in 'White Lightning' set an FIA world record for electric vehicles at 245.524mph.

The state and length of the tracks that could be made available annually at Bonneville steadily deteriorated over the years with more and more extraction of the salt for commercial purposes. The area is administered by the Bureau of Land Management and was designated as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern in 1985. A Save The Salt campaign was established with agreements for more salt to be pumped back onto the flats in order to help increase the depth and stabilise the situation. Tremendous improvements have been made and today Bonneville is still THE venue for high-speed racing. Competition is high for time on the salt each year for record attempts around the events of Speed Week in August, World of Speed in September and the World Finals in October.

Wendover

Almost as famous as the salt flats, is the small town of Wendover, which is situated about 10 miles to the west, on the state border between Utah and Nevada. The settlement was established by Bill Smith in the 1920's with a simple gas station. During the Second World War the Army Air Corps built a bomber training base and the B-29 crews who dropped the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima trained here. Some of the base has been converted to civilian use and many of the remaining hangars are used by teams as a base for speed record attempts on the salt flats. In Autumn 1999 one such hangar was used by Richard Brown with his team for the 'Gillette Mach3 Challenger' and their attempt to set a new world record for two-wheeled vehicles.