BAR heads to Bonneville for speed attempt

What’s the theoretical top speed of a Formula One car? It’s the eternal bar-room poser, and a question that will be answered when BAR takes one of its 2005 contenders to Bonneville in October.

The run across the Utah salt flats, the traditional venue for Land Speed Record attempts, was suggested by team sponsor Lucky Strike and will take place with a close to standard BAR-Honda 007.  A speed in excess of 250mph has been predicted.

“It’s not a hugely modified car; it’ll be in standard F1 form but will have to be modified for safety,” said team boss Nick Fry. “It’s got to have a parachute on the back, for example.”

“It has to be FIA specification, otherwise it becomes a ‘what is it?’ type of project. We didn’t want to increase the size of the engine or anything. We thought we would keep it relatively pure.”

The first test runs on the salt took place in early August with the team’s South African test driver Alan van der Merwe at the wheel.