NEW RULES FOR AUSSIES?

THE ROSCO McGlashan Aussie Invader land speed record team is seeking a change to the rules governing these records, on the basis they were written decades ago and don’t address the current technology.

Regs covering these events are adminstered by the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile, which has been doing it for 85 years.

“It may be time for a rethink. Logic tells me these rules were written for a long time ago,” said Mark Read, the team’s media director.

“Cars are now looking at speeds around 700-800 mph faster than those records set 100-plus years ago,” Read wrote in a letter to the Federation letter. “The Aussie Invader team is building a car to reach a speed of a 1000mph (1610km/h). With the current rules of two passes over the same measured mile, cars need longer tracks and distances to stop safely. With the current rules there is not a place long enough in the free world to safely run a car at these speeds.”

The team is seeking two key concessions: to have a different track for each pass, and to allow two hours between runs.

Roger Banowetz, the president of the FIA’s Land Speed Records Commission, said that “from a regulatory standpoint we need to be cognizant to not make vehicle-specific regulations. We wouldn’t want to advantage or disadvantage one team or another with a regulatory change.” No decision has been made at this stage.

See aussieinvader.com