Lake Bonneville: an incredible place of exorbitant speed records

By the number of outstanding events that occurred on Lake Bonneville, few can compete with it. Dozens of world speed records were set here, several films were shot on the lake, and even the capsule of the spacecraft landed on its surface. Why Lake Bonneville has become the center of all these events, we will tell below.

Lake Bonneville is located in the United States, on the territory of Utah and has an area of just over 100 km2. This is not an ordinary lake. The fact is that the reservoir itself, located in the middle of the desert, dried up during the Pleistocene, about 16,000 years ago. There was once a large lake in its place, but over time, the climate in this part of North America became more arid, less and less rainfall, droughts became more frequent. Gradually, the water evaporated, and Lake Bonneville turned into a salt plateau with a perfectly flat surface. The thickness of the salt deposits of the lake in some places reaches 1.8 meters.

Due to its flat and dense surface, as well as its impressive size, the lake attracted the attention of fans of high-speed records. The first races took place here in 1914, when the rider Teddy Tetslaff set the first speed record here at 228 km / h. After that, riders from all over the world obsessed with high-speed achievements began to come here. Various competitions and races for survival on cars and motorcycles were regularly held here. Over time, Lake Bonneville turned into a unique racing track, where it was set the most high-speed records in the world.

The most favorable period for the race is the warm season from May to October. Although the lake is located in the desert, a small amount of precipitation falls here, about 100-300 millimeters per year. For this reason, from autumn to spring, the lake is covered with a small layer of water and high-speed rides are not held here. Of the recent achievements recorded on the salt lake Bonneville, we can name the highest speed on a motorcycle, which was achieved in 2010 and amounted to 605.697 km / h, as well as the speed record on a car, which amounted to 737.395 km / h and was set in 2001 .

Filmmakers also show an increased interest in the unusual salt lake. Several films were filmed here, including the Fastest Indian film, the plot of which is based on the real story of racer Bert Monroe. In addition, Lake Bonneville became the landing site for the capsule from the Stardust spacecraft in 2006. The device was engaged in collecting information about the comet 81P / Vilda, and also performed other related tasks in space. The area of Lake Bonneville refers to areas with a crane with a low population density and is the best suited for landing spacecraft. A capsule with samples of cosmic dust and cometary matter successfully landed on the surface of Bonneville in January 2006.