| World Record Previously Held for 50 Years!
NEW INTERNATIONAL
RECORDS
100 Miles @ 175.600 MPH
500 Miles @ 175.503 MPH
1000 Miles @ 174.428 MPH
5000 KM @ 175.710 MPH
5000 Miles @ 173.791 MPH
12 Hours Endurance @ 175.523 MPH
24 Hours Endurance @ 175.885 MPH for 4,221.256
Miles
WORLD RECORDS - IRRESPECTIVE
of CATEGORY or CLASS
5000 KM @ 175.710 MPH
5000 Miles @ 173.791 MPH
4,221.256 Miles @ 175.885 MPH
Read about that day the Record
was broken by Hib Halverson.
Click
here
"They said it couldn't be done", says the announcer. 9:56AM, Fort
Stockton, Texas, 3/1/90 was the date and the many world records fell to
the true KING of the Hill at the 7.712 mile Firestone/Bridgestone test
track in the next 2 days. Although the red car (stock 1990 engine in a
1989 ZR1) seems always in the lead, the King graciously allowed his
white sibling (a modified L98 coupe), to receive the first of the World
records. The announcer replies that the first 6 hours were at a steady
5500 RPM - 75% ability for the Z.
The 24 hour endurance (175.885mph) and 5000 mile (173.791mph) and
5000Km (175.710mph) records fell on the following day, of course, and
the King didn't give those records away. Averaging speeds of near 180
mph, the announcer remarks that that is nearly "a football field each
second." It is exciting to watch the speedometer at 171 -172 - 173...
and see the drivers perspective view of the road. There were suitcases
filled with spare parts that the FIA allows, but they were never needed.
The 24 hour record (161.180mph) used to be held by Ab Jenkins 50 years
previous, who drove a Duesenberg built, single passenger race car, the
Morman Meteor III with a 1,570 cubic inch Curtis V12 aircraft engine
(that's about 4 1/2 times the size of our puny 350ci's) and they used
the Bonneville salt flats to do it. This is an open class, or, as my
Daddy used to say, a "Run what you brung" contest that many have tried
to win, but none have succeeded since July,1940.
NOTE:
The previous 24 hour record (161.180mph) used to be held by Ab Jenkins
50+ years ago, who drove a Duesenberg built, single passenger race car,
the Morman Meteor III with a 1570 cubic inch Curtis V12 aircraft engine
(that's about 4 1/2 times the size of our 350's) and they used the
Bonneville salt flats to do it.
The 5000 mile record (156.824mph) was previously set in 1976 by an
experimental race car, the Mercedes C111/2 turbo diesel.
For the full story read
"The Corvette Endurance
Epic" by Hib Halverson, the only media present to cover the event.
Copy of official FiA
document.
New Record has been set. On October 14th a
prototype of Volkswagen's new W12 Coupe in the final stages of
development set the world speed record for distance covered in "24
hours". The 440 kW/600 bhp twelve-cylinder sports car covered 7,085.7
kilometers (4,402.8 miles) at an average speed of 295.24 km/h (183.45
mph). It thus toppled the previous record by a margin of twelve km/h
(7.5 mph). In the Volkswagen W12 Coupe capable of 350 km/h (217 mph),
which had not been specially prepared for the long-distance record bid,
the team of drivers also set two other world records (over 5,000
kilometers and 5,000 miles) and six international vehicle class records.
The class record for "12 hours" had already been broken in a trial run.
All world and class records are subject to recognition by the
Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA); therefore the
record-breaking drives on the high-speed circuit at Nardo near Lecce in
southern Italy were carried out in accordance with the official FIA
regulations. The aim of putting the vehicle through this grueling
24-hour ordeal was to analyze the performance potential and the
robustness of the twelve-cylinder engine. As can be seen from the
remarkable records and the first technical analyses of the drive unit,
an ideal set of the results was achieved, exceeding the defined
requirements. |
