Bronzed Aussie revs up for land speed record in SA’s north
A modified Holden Commodore is aiming to break the Australian land speed record of over 436km/h for a piston-driven car, at Lake Gairdner in South Australia’s north.
This modified VR Commodore is bidding to break the Australian land speed record for a piston driven car at Lake Gairdner in South Australia's north. Photo: AAP/Supplied
Lionel West is looking to smash his existing record of 271 miles per hour (436 kilometres an hour) in a run on Lake Gairdner this week as part of the Dry Lake Racers Australia meeting.
But rain overnight on Monday closed the lake on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday, West had completed some promising shakedowns, clocking 125mp/h (201km/h) and 150mp/h (241km/h) in his modified VR Commodore dubbed Bronze Aussie.
Posting on its Facebook page, the team said the conditions were not the best but they were hoping for some decent sun and wind on the track on Tuesday and Wednesday.
West set his existing record in 2017 and then went faster in an unofficial run in 2018 before crashing.
His car has since been rebuilt and upgraded with a view to cracking the 300mp/h (482km/h) barrier.
If he can do that he would smash the current world record of 297mp/h (478 km/h) though he would need to repeat it in the United States for it to be officially recognised.
“It’s not out of reach with what we’ve done to the car,” West said.
-with AAP
