DARING Penola dry lake racer David Bullock has made an impressive new Australian land speed record during his debut at Lake Gairdner Speedweek.
The annual event spans over a week on the 190km long and 48km wide dry salt lake, north of South Australia, hosted by the Dry Lake Racers Australia (DLRA).
All about going high speeds in a straight line, the event allows participants with six miles to get to speed and six miles to slow down.
Mr Bullock, alongside his team members John Harding, Victoria Heenan and Noel Heenan, made the Australian record in the AA Gl AA class – the letters representing the engine size, gas and the Lakester body style of the car.
“I gained my record of 214.082 mph (344.53kph) on my last run for the week,” Mr Bullock said.
“I was really only permitted to go no more than 215mph and I only had to use three miles of the track to do this.”
Each driver is required to complete licensing passes to show they are able to keep control of the car and also to bring the vehicle to a safe stop.
“Licensing passes have to be done for 125mph, 150mph, 175mph and 200mph respectively,” he said.
The American-built car has raced at Bonneville several times, with Mr Harding purchasing the car while he was in America.
“It was reassembled with a new 632ci engine with 820hp and is fitted to a two speed transmission, ” Mr Bullock said.
“We were actually doing our 150mph licensing pass still in first gear.”
Mr Harding had the car shipped to Australia and only picked it up in Melbourne just three days before it had to be taken to the lake to race.
Mr Bullock said the body of the car was originally an aluminium fuel tank which originally hung under an old aircraft.
“A huge credit must go to John for getting everything organised to get the car from America and have it ready to go in Australia in such a short time,” Mr Bullock said.
“I can’t thank him enough for giving me the opportunity to drive the car and I am so glad I was able to get a record for him.”
Mr Bullock first started racing in the early ’90s at the Calder Park Raceway Thunderdome, running HQ Holdens for around four years.
“Following this I then moved to America and worked as a mechanic for a NASCAR team and did that until early 2003 before coming back home to do mechanical work,” he said.
Mr Bullock then became involved in conducting fabrication work along with wind tunnel and aerodynamics.
“In 2004 and 2005, I worked for a sprint car team in America and spent six months there and then six months back in Australia – I was chasing the summer,” he said.
The recent dry lake race meeting saw a total of 220 competitors, with a combination of vehicles competing in a large number of categories.
“Participants flock from around Australia and the world, with two Americans coming out to compete this year,” Mr Bullock said.
When reflecting on his first race and the high speeds reached, Mr Bullock said he was not as nervous as he expected.
“I was quite comfortable in the car,” he said.
For his achievement, Mr Bullock received a red hat, a highly sought after token in the dry lake racing world, recognising his ability to reach over 200 miles per hour.
“To receive the red hat is a pretty big deal, it was pretty cool,” Mr Bullock said.
“I will be back again next year to have another crack to reach an even greater speed.”
