A hundred year old steam car speed record has just been broken by a British team.
Edward’s Air Force Base, California: Tuesday August 25th:
Today at 8.19am (California time) Charles Burnett III successfully broke the land speed record for a steam powered car - which has stood for more than 100 years - achieving an average speed of 139.843mph on two runs over a measured mile.
Driver Charles Burnett III piloted the car for both runs reaching a peak speed of 136.103mph on the first run and 151.085mph on the second. The new international record, which is subject to official confirmation by the FIA, breaks the previous official FIA record of 127mph set in 1906 by American, Fred Marriott, driving a Stanley steamer at Daytona Beach.
Full story and background: The British Steam Car Challenge.
Whenever a record like this is broken, the driver gets all the glory in the media. Fair enough: it takes guts. But just for once, let's hear it for the whole team:
Principal Driver - Charles Burnett
Test Driver - Don Wales
Engineering Logistics Coordinator - Frank Swanston
Team Coordinator and Administrator - Lynne Angel
Team Administrator - Kirsty Redfern
PR Liaison Officer - Pam Swanston
PR Manager - Rebecca Nicholls
Engineering Administrator/Strategic Planner - Matt Candy
Car Build Technician - Peter Prove
Technician - Clive Hawkins
Technician - Stuart Bailey
Technician - Mark Blackwell
Technician - Dave Crabtree
Wireman - Peter Dickerson
Electrical, Wiring and Computer Technician - Matthew Warr
Electric and Electronic Technician - Nick Bass
Composite Body Work - Mike Horne
Fabricator&Welder - Chris Yates
Fabricator Technician - Wilbur Day
Student Placement - Adam Tye
Design Draughtsman - Chris Lack
Transport - Nigel Leppard
Newtown Park Estates Manager - Richard Channell
Newtown Park Estates Logistics Manager - Rob Gray
Designer - Glynne Bowsher
Consulting Engineer - Peter Candy
Team Inspiration Chairman - Bill Rich
Team Medic - Ed Ortega
Turn Around Crew - Ben May, Chris Piercy
Webmaster - Martin Swanston
The late project manager, Frank Swanston, would have been proud of them all.
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