Steam Speed increases

British Team Sets Another Steam Record

On Wednesday August 26th at 8.22am (California time) Don Wales successfully set another land speed record for a steam powered car at Edward’s Air Force Base, California.

The car set the record for a measured kilometre – achieving an average speed of 148.308mph on two runs.

After Charles Burnett III’s heroics on Tuesday in breaking the record for a measured mile, test driver Don Wales piloted the car for the attempt at the kilometre record and reached a peak speed over 155mph. Both new international records are subject to official confirmation by the FIA.

Don Wales said: “What a great feeling, the car felt better than ever today. We peaked over 150mph and the car was handling beautifully. The team has worked so hard over the last 10 years, especially over the last few weeks! Having set two FIA world records is an amazing achievement and no-more than the team deserve after their perseverance”

Project Manager Matt Candy said: “It’s fantastic to set another record for the team and all that hard work has been worth it. After Charles broke the record for the measured mile on Tuesday, we decided to have one more run with the car and attempt the kilometre record. We took some of the inhibitors from the boilers for this run and it helped get a bit more speed out of the car. The weather was perfect today and the air temperature was just 62 degrees Fahrenheit, the team turned around the car in an amazing 30minutes which is their quickest ever! Don has worked so hard with the team, it’s fantastic that he should go home with a record too.”