Rain hits Speed Scotland bid11 | 08 | 2012

    SPEED SCOTLAND'S BID to break the 1000cc World Land Speed Record of 313mph got off to a soggy start when thunderstorms hit the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

    The torrential rain and high winds forced the Lesmahagow-based team to delay the first run of its car — named Flower of Scotland — on the famous American salt flats for 24-hours.

    "We can do all the preparation we can, but when Mother Nature deals us a hand like that, there's nothing we can do," team boss Derek Palmer said today.

    The team's 22in-wide, methanol-powered Streamliner car — backed by EFG International Bank and Swiss watchmaker Maurice de Mauriac — will be driven by Rick Pearson as it bids to shatter the current 313mph mark.

    See more photos of Speed Scotland at Bonneville

    "The day wasn't wasted," Pearson, one of only two Brits licensed to run at speeds in excess of 300mph, said.

    "The crew was able to spend more time fine-tuning the Streamliner ahead of its debut on the salt, and we're ready to go.

    "A few of the bigger-engined cars did run, but their drivers conceded that having edged over the 300mph barrier, the vibrations became too severe because of the roughness of the salt and visibility became almost nil.

    "Definitely not what you want when you're strapped tightly into a 22in-wide metal tube."

    Green light for Speed Scotland

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    Jim McGill

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