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OSU team breaks its own hydrogen landspeed record

Posted on | October 7, 2009 | 366 views |

For the second time on Sept. 26, Ohio State’s Venturi Buckeye Bullet 2 team exceeded the international speed record it set in 2007.

The Bullet’s average speed was 302.877 mph, which is pending certification by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile before it can be called an official record.

The hydrogen fuel cell-powered landspeed streamliner racer and its engineering student team made the record attempts in the Salt Flats in Utah the week of Sept. 20. On that Wednesday, the Bullet reached an average 299.91 mph, far surpassing the certified record of 132.129 mph the vehicle set in 2007.

The Bullet was required to make two speed runs, one each in opposite directions and within 60 minutes, in order to be considered for the record, which is officially determined by averaging the speed of the two runs.

The students overcame several obstacles on the way to their highest speedometer reading, said Giorgio Rizzoni, director of Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research and adviser to the team.

“The skill level, ingenuity and resilience of this student group is unparalleled,” he said. “Just last night they had a broken gearshift. They worked overnight to take the whole thing apart, and here they are now surpassing the 300 mph mark. It’s just phenomenal.

“This record will hold for a long time,” Rizzoni said. “I can’t see who is going to take this away from us.”

The vehicle, engineered by Ohio State students, is driven by professional racing driver Roger Schroer.

Video of the historic run can be viewed at youtube.com/buckeyebullet2.

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