He comes from an illustrious speed dynasty, and in trying to
live up to the achievements of his uncle Donald Campbell and
grandfather Sir Malcolm Campbell, Don Wales has gone for the
cutting edge in vehicles. He is seeking to top 100mph - on a
lawnmower.
Mr Wales, 49, will attempt to break the U.S.-set 80mph drive-on
lawnmower speed record by more than 25 per cent. His
vehicle - which must also be capable of cutting grass - is powered
by a conventional 26hp Kawasaki lawnmower engine, modified to run
on high-octane racing fuel.
Mr Wales, who holds eight UK land speed records for electric
cars and broke the world record for a steam car in August, said:
'It is a really exciting project. How often do you get to drive a
lawnmower at 100mph?'
Sir Malcolm and Donald Campbell broke more than 20 land and
water speed records between them. In 1924 Malcolm set a land-speed
record of 146mph and in 1967, when Mr Wales was six, Donald died
when his Bluebird speedboat crashed on Coniston Water as
it hit a top speed of 300mph.
Mr Wales's challenge, which will raise funds for charity, takes
place in February on Pendine Sands, Carmarthen Bay, west Wales,
scene of Sir Malcolm's first record of 146mph in a 350hp Bluebird
in 1924.
Project Runningblade aims to smash the current record set by Bob
Cleveland from the United States of 80.792mph at Bonneville Salt
Flats on July 4, 2006. The attempt is planned to take place at
Pendine Sands in Wales on February 26 and 27 next year and was
unveiled at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Hampshire.
At 100mph, the machine would cover 147ft per second, covering
the target mile in less than 36 seconds. The Runningblade team has
worked with lawnmower manufacturer Countax and is hoping
to raise funds and awareness for Great Ormond Street Hospital and
Wessex Heartbeat.
'In order to meet the Guinness records we have to prove that it
can cut grass in the morning of the record attempt and then take
the cutting blade off,' said Clare Hensley-Boyd, communications
director for the project. 'It sounds like a spoof but we have a
whole team of researchers and engineers working on it. 'At the same
time we have the whole history of world speed records that is part
of Don Wales's heritage and we are raising money for our two
charities as well.' She added: 'There's a whole racing fraternity
in the lawnmower world and they have 12-hour lawnmower races,
there's clubs all around the country.'
Sir Malcolm Campbell (born 1885) was an English racing motorist
and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land
and on water at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using
vehicles called Blue Bird. His son, Donald (born 1921),
carried on the family tradition by holding both land speed and
water speed records.
Between them, Donald Campbell and his father had set 11 speed
records on water and ten on land. While Sir Malcolm died from
natural causes in 1948, Donald was killed when an attempt to break
the water speed record ended in tragedy.
Bluebird K7 flipped and disintegrated at a speed in
excess of 300mph on January 1967. Later that month he was
posthumously awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct for
courage and determination in attacking the world water speed
record. The boat and Donald Campbell's body were not recovered
until 2001.