Family ’s new record attempt for Bluebird
Two generations vie for success
The grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell is hoping to smash the UK electric land speed record this weekend.
Don Wales, 50, and his Bluebird team will try to break the 137 mph barrier which Mr Wales set in 2000.
Mr Wales is hoping to reach a speed in excess of 150 mph when he races at Pendine Sands, in Carmarthenshire, South Wales.
He comes from an illustrious line of speedsters, with his grandfather and uncle Donald Campbell holding world speed records on both land and water.
But Mr Wales now faces a challenge from his own teenage son Joe, who will also be racing the battery-powered vehicle.
The 19-year-old becomes the fourth generation of the Campbell family to pursue record-breaking when he drives Bluebird Electric to attempt the quarter-mile and 500-metre UK speed records.
The South Wales location has seen plenty of attempts on UK records in the past, including Sir Malcolm in 1924 when he set a then-fastest speed in a combustion engine of 146 mph.
The Bluebird team is hoping to use this weekend’s trials to test the technology behind the super-fast car and to build a new electric vehicle for an attempt on the world speed record in two years’ time.
They want to hit 500 mph and pass the 307 mph record set by the Buckeye Bullet 2.5 team last year.
This would also beat the wheel-driven record, which stands from 2001 at 458 mph.
Don Wales said: “Ten years ago we set a UK record of 137 mph at Pendine Sands and we are going back there this weekend to hopefully increase that speed to somewhere around 150 mph or 160 mph.
“This really is the start of a two- or three-year campaign with a target of 500 mph.”
Test driver and technical director Tim Allen took the Bluebird on to the runway to test the brakes and acceleration – easily beating the pace car.
“It has all been about testing the machine for the first time – it has been a shake-down test,” said Mr Wales.
“The team has been working really hard and the guys at Bristol University and in Wales have worked a lot of hours to get this car working.
“Tim, our test driver and technical director, has been in the car and he’s had a good spin so far.
“I am looking forward to Saturday and Sunday and being back on the beach and increase our records.
“More importantly, we want to increase the profile of the project and go forward to a 500 mph car.”
Mr Wales’s son Joe said he was also looking forward to the weekend and maybe even beating his father.