Track Gives Way In Bluebird Trial

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30445, 20 May 1964, Page 19

Track Gives Way In Bluebird Trial

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) LAKE EYRE (South Australia), May 19. Bluebird made three test runs on Lake Eyre today with mixed results.

The parachute test was “very successful,” said Donald Campbell. But the test of the track surface was a disappointment.

Bluebird’s wheels cut up the surface of the .track where it crosses the still rain-affected original course, which is now abandoned. The ruts were not deep, but Campbell said that he could not run a high-speed test over that quarter of a mile.

To make matters worse, the wet patch falls just where Bluebird will need maximum power if it is to set a world speed record. : “The track was so rough and the wheels were bumping around so ; much I couldn’t control the steering wheel,” Campbell said after the first run. The first run of seven miles did not cross the wet patch, and Campbell reached a peak of 250 miles an hour.

He used the full extent of the 12-mile track for the return run, his speeds being deliberately controlled to test the surface of the track. The top speed was between 210 and 220 miles an hour, which he held through the measured mile in the middle of the track. Four-five Days Rest He started off quickly with 40 per cent. of power, increased to 45 per . cent just before the measured mile, then after dropping back slightly, gave the engine 45 to 50 per cent power on the wet patch. It was a strong test for the track and it did not take it. After inspecting the track Campbell said there would be no more runs for four or five days.