Now the two fastest men in the world - (and me)
Earls Court - October 1995 - after a hard day on the stand.
The Background
As with many land speed record enthusiasts, I first met Richard Noble at the Motorfair in London in 1977 when he had taken a stand to raise awareness and funding for his own attempt to recapture the record from the Americans and bring it back to Britain. His project was aptly named Thrust - it was to be Britain's first ever true jet car - but at that time he had an engine and very little other hardware. What he did have however, was an enormous amount of infectious enthusiasm and a huge amount of belief in his dream. So many cliches could have described my impressions of my first brief meeting with Richard - "larger than life" - comes immediately to mind. I signed to join his fledgling supporters club there and then, parting with, as I recall, £1 for the privilege.
Unfortunately I lost touch with the project in 1979/1980 when I moved home four times in ten months - keeping people informed of where to find me became a nightmare! This was more unfortunate as Richard suffered huge disappointments in 1980, 1981 and 1982 (read "FOR BRITAIN AND THE HELL OF IT" - David Tremayne for a much better story(!) His trip to Bonneveille in 1981 served only to prove that the thinning salt lake was no longer ideal for such a record attempt but with no known alternative the team re-assembled there in 1982 hoping for better conditions. In fact they were worsening but the one ray of light was the possibility of trying THRUST 2 on the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
Not quite that easy as before anything could venture onto the surface the Bureau of Land Management had to be assured of minimal environmental impact. As time passed so did precious funding in just keeping the team personnel together. Richard's diplomacy won the day and the car was running but as winter now approached rapidly, he was left a frustratingly 35m.p.h. short of a new record. Sheer enthusiasm and determination took him back for one last try in 1983 - (sponsor's patience doesn't last for ever) - and I still remember that glorious morning when I leapt out of bed as I heard the news that Richard had done it and the record was back in Britain.
For the story of my Mach One Club see 