Pair of plucky New Zealand crews snatch records at Bonneville
Who doesn't love seeing the little guy reign supreme? It's a story-line that followed around the legendary Burt Munro during his tenure at the Bonneville Salt Flats, and it's one that looks set to stay with two more New Zealand groups, CMR Bonneville and Project ’64 — both of whom have claimed new records on the salt.
The Project ’64 Mini squad and their beloved Mini [pictured below] were first to rewrite the record books, after eclipsing the existing I/BGALT record by a stellar 18mph during Monday's running. Clocking an average of 158.039mph (254kmh) on only their second attempt at the storied Bonneville flats, the team's little Mini has received support from people all over the world; including Mini themselves, who gave the team their best wishes earlier this month.
The second group to take a record, CMR Bonneville, are headed by the legendary Reg Cook and their potent Honda-powered Nissan NX [pictured in lead]. Gunning for the record of the fastest two-litre naturally aspirated car in the world, the Nissan (nicknamed ‘Cookie’) achieved a terminal speed of 196.6mph (315kph) earlier this morning NZST. The speed was good enough for the team to shift up to the G/FALT class.
Making the feats of both teams particularly impressive is the talk of conditions at this year's event being something of a compromise, with some racers saying that the surface is softer than usual. Still, it's better than last year's circumstances that saw the whole event get canned before it had even begun.
Speed Week will continue on until Friday local time (Saturday morning New Zealand time), with many more updates over social media from both crews of Kiwis certain to come.