So diesel engines are slow ?

A British pilot broke a land-speed record Tuesday for driving a car powered by diesel engines faster than anyone else in the world.
Andy Green broke the supercharged diesel streamliner world record on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats by more than 100 mph by reaching an average land speed of 328.767 mph.

The former record for land speed using diesel engines was 235.756 mph, set by Virgil Snyder on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1973.

"It's absolutely astonishing what we've achieved today," Green said by telephone from the salt flats, about 90 miles west of Salt Lake City.

The land-speed attempt was observed by the FIA, the international governing body of racing. FIA rules require two passes be made within an hour to arrive at an average speed. Green's first run was clocked at 324.265 mph and his return run at 333.364 mph, said David Petrali, FIA's representative at the 11-mile track.

Mr Green said: "This is exactly what we came to do today - this is British engineering at its absolute best. We now have the fastest diesel in the world.

"We have now set two records in only four runs which is a stunning engineering and team achievement."

Project director Dr Tim Leverton said: "To have built the world's fastest diesel is a stunning achievement for the JCB Dieselmax team and the car performed superbly."

Sir Anthony Bamford, chairman of JCB, said: "This is a marvellous achievement for JCB, and a wonderful tribute to British engineering."

The team behind the 23ft-long (9m) racer has spent a week testing the Dieselmax in Utah.

In 1997, Wing Cmdr Green became the only person to drive at supersonic speeds in the vehicle Thrust SSC when he achieved a speed of 763mph (1227kph).