23 Aug 06
At first light I was on the Bonneville Salt Flats watching the JCB team commence its starting procedure. Bags of ice cubes were loaded into the Dieselmax streamliner's nose - crucial for engine cooling - as the carbon fibre bodywork was attached to the frame. After 18 months of preparation, the moment of truth was drawing near.
Around 8am, Andy Green showed up wearing a bright yellow racing suit, closely followed by his girlfriend and fellow Wing Commander Sophie Gardner. Green is famously cool, but was his girlfriend feeling nervous? 'No,' she said. 'He's a fast jet pilot so I'm used to it. Harriers tend to fall out of the sky more than speed record cars go wrong.'
At 8.20, the Dieselmax set off for its first run, pushed in a comical fashion by a JCB tractor. Half a mile into the run, the tractor decoupled itself and Green was away... except that he wasn't. After hitting 150mph, an electric cable sheared and the Dieselmax ground to a halt. 'That's land speed record breaking,' said Green, as the technicians set to work. Twenty minutes later it was fixed.
This time there were no problems. The cigar-shaped car sped off into the distance, leaving a trail of white smoke. Moments later, there was a crackle on the radio and it was confirmed that Green had averaged 324mph through the flying mile. The team now had one hour in which to prepare the car for the return run.
