Russel Wright (racing driver)

Russel Wright (* 1929 in Invercargill , New Zealand ; † January 29, 2013 ) was a New Zealand motorcycle racer . From 1955 to 1956 he held the speed record for motorcycles with 298  km / h .

Life

The proceeds from rabbit hunting enabled him to buy a little James two-stroke in his youth , he drove races on the beach, mountain and grass track races and speedway . He befriended Burt Munro , who at the time held the New Zealand motorcycle speed record.

In mid-1952 he was a partner in a construction company, which allowed him to purchase one of 31 Vincent Black Lightning that had been built. Although it was the competition version of the Black Shadow , Wright received assistance from Scottish immigrant Bob Burns, who increased the motorcycle's performance and contributed a fish-shaped streamlined fairing.

With this, Wright set out on July 2, 1955, to break the world speed record for motorcycles, which Wilhelm Herz had held since 1951 . The place for this was a simple street near Swannanoa in the Christchurch area , with a hedge, spectators, wire fences and a dirt verge. Two passes between the apparatus of the FIM timekeepers present were necessary. The road was still drying from the rain that had fallen the previous night and the collision with a bird, which resulted in a loud bang, was a rather incidental occurrence on the first run. On the way back, however, Wright was pushed aside by the wind after passing a hedge and almost raced into a group of spectators. As a result, he had an average of two runs a speed of 298 km / h (185  mph ) and thus the world record.

A kind of sidecar was added to the vehicle and Bob Burns set the record for motorcycle teams with 261 km / h . Wright received a £ 1000 award from  British magazine The Motor Cycle , which he shared with Burns. When Wilhelm Herz took back the title on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1956 at 339 km / h with his NSU Delphin III , Russel Wright was also present, but only achieved 319 km / h.

Wright initially stayed in the construction business, selling fences and performing services with a bulldozer he had bought . After all, he was a representative for National Mutual . In 2001 the British World Speed ​​Record Club made him an honorary member.

Web links

• Michael Fallow: World speed records set , The Southland Times, February 13, 2013 (accessed November 1, 2013)
• The Wright Burns Records , contemporary film report on Youtube