Speed king Craig Breedlove dies at 86

American five-time world land speed record setter Craig Breedlove died peacefully in his sleep at 86 surrounded by family on April 4 in California.

“He was an American treasure,” said his wife, Yadira Breedlove. “Our hearts are heavy today letting him go, but we also acknowledge Craig’s courage and bravery seeking motorsports honours for the US. For decades, his deeds touched many, many people around the world.”

Breedlove was the first person to surpass speed marks faster than 400-, 500- and 600-miles per hour (respectively 644km/h, 805km/h and 966km/h).

His son Norman credits his father with demonstrating how to shepherd dreams forward. “What I admired most about Dad was his tenaciousness,” he said. “He simply would not accept rejection and repeatedly went back to people and companies until he got a ‘yes’.”

Of equal importance was his father’s exceptionally high quality of workmanship. “He built things as if they were pieces of art,” recalled Breedlove junior. “He taught me to always ‘give it my best’, reminding me that ‘if you are going to build it, build it to last’.”

Craig Breedlove’s hunt of speed began in his teens. He spent four years rebuilding a junk three-window ’34 Ford Coupe. In 1955, at age 18, he collected his first record on the Bonneville Salt Flats at 152.80mph (246km/h) in Class C Coupe and Sedan category.

Breedlove used a jet-powered car called “Spirit of America” to dethrone Britain’s John Cobb and claim the outright world land speed record for the US on August 5 1963, reaching 407mph (655km/h).

This ushered in years of record-setting swaps with brothers Art and Walt Arfons and Tom Green driving their “Green Monster” jet cars.

“Their rivalry made each other,” said Tim Arfons, son of Breedlove’s long-time rival Art Arfons. “Without each other I think they might have ended up as a historical footnote instead of splashing the front pages of newspapers worldwide for years.”

Breedlove’s accomplishments inspired The Beach Boys to include the song Spirit of America as a tribute to him on their 1963 Little Deuce Coupe album. All Breedlove’s jet-powered cars carried the same name through his 60-year racing career.

In 1965 he clocked his fastest speed ever, 600.601mph (966.6km/h), in a four-wheeled rocket car called “Spirit of America Sonic I” at Bonneville.

Breedlove was voted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1993.

The land speed record is 1,228km/h, set in 1997 by Great Britain’s Andy Green in the Black Rock desert in the US.

Volkswagen brings Petter Solberg and Polo Supercar to Simola Hillclimb

Volkswagen Motorsport is bringing former world rally and rallycross champion Petter Solberg out of retirement to take on the Simola Hillclimb in Knysna from May 4-7.

The Norwegian will tackle the hill in a VW Polo R WRX Supercar, one of the most successful racing cars of the modern Rallycross era with two drivers’ titles and two teams’ championships. The all-wheel drive, 2.0l turbocharged car boasts 419kW of power and scorches from 0-100km/h in just 1.9 seconds.

Solberg won the 2003 World Rally Championship with Subaru. He later switched to rallycross and in 2014 became the inaugural winner of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, repeating his title success the following year. In 2017 he set up the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team in partnership with Volkswagen Motorsport, and won the team championship in 2017 and 2018 before his retirement from full-time motorsport. The Volkswagen Motorsport line-up at Simola this year will also include its factory drivers Jonathan Mogotsi and Daniel Rowe  competing the new Golf 8 R, and Graeme Nathan in the Polo SupaCup racing car.

Now in its 13th year, the Simola Hillclimb attracts a diverse array of cars competing to set the quickest time up the 1.9km hill, from lightweight single-seat race cars right up to silent and powerful electric vehicles.

MotoGP heads to the US with Bezzecchi leading

After delivering the first premier class win for Valentino Rossi’s Mooney VR46 MotoGP team in Argentina a fortnight ago, Marco Bezzecchi has become a potential title challenger in only his second season.

The Italian heads to this weekend’s third round, the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, as the surprise championship leader. He has 50 points to the 41 of world champion Francesco Bagnaia on the factory Ducati, after Bagnaia crashed out in Argentina.

Former multiple champion Marc Marquez will miss the American round due to a hand injury incurred in a collision in the season-opening race in Portugal last month. The Honda rider also missed the Argentinian round. For causing the accident in Portugal with RNF Racing's Miguel Oliveira, Marquez must serve a long-lap penalty at the next MotoGP race he participates in.

SA’s Brad Binder is eighth in the title chase on 22 points after his surprise victory in Argentina’s Saturday sprint race from 15th on the grid. The KTM rider failed to score in the Sunday main race after being punted off the wet track by Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales and rejoining last.