ThrustSSC Mach 1 Club

Wanted - New Land Speed Record Venue

No matter how hard you try you just can't beat Mother Nature and in retrospect all the efforts to be ready to run in 1995 may have been in vain anyway. As a venue for a car running on solid wheels, Black Rock is perfect since it offers a slightly crumbly top surface into which the wheels 'bite' to give good directional stability, while just below is a very hard subsurface with excellent load bearing - just the thing for a 7 ton recordbreaker!

Every year the surface is refreshed by the winter rains and spring winds that wash the surface clean and then replaster it into a flat even surface with its distinctive polygon patterns. Trouble is, the very thing that provides this fresh surface also renders it unusable for anything other that a couple of months a year. Every year the 'season' is slightly different and Lyn Clemons from the Bureau of Land Management in Winnemucca rang Richard Noble at the end of August to tell him that the desert was still wet from last Winter. 'Been one of the wettest seasons for years,' he said, 'the surface is very crumbly and it still needs plenty of consolidation.' Local reports are also predicting an early start to the rains this year. A photograph of the desert taken in July shows that the surface still hadn't hardened off properly.

So, what's the answer? Well obviously wait until next year, but in the meantime perhaps you can help. What we really need is a similar site, probably somewhere in the southern hemisphere, that will enable us to run ThrustSSC in March or April. By using two locations we double the rate of progress since there will inevitably be things that need modification after the first trial runs. Do you know of anywhere that fits the bill? The major criteria are as follows:

1. Dried up alkaline playa lake bed surface (not hardened salt) 15 miles long by 5 miles wide, free from obstructions. Must be washed clean every year by rains and then baked hard by sun.
2. Must have adequate access and facilities. A 7 ton, 54 foot long car on its trailer will not take too kindly to unmade roads.
3. Must have similar environmental restrictions to those at Black Rock and be free from extensive use by wildlife. The area should also be safe and politically stable.

You'll notice that hardened salt surfnces are out and that's because ThrustSSC was designed to run on a more compliant surface. As Richard Noble found out at Bonneville with Thrust2 and as Rosco McGlashan is finding out at Lake Gairdner, salt is fine for reducing rolling resistance but a real pig when trying to ensure that the car goes straight. We are making enquiries of our own, but if you do know of anywhere that might be suitable, please drop us a line to the regular address with your information.

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