All hail the Queen!

"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
06/25/2020 at 00:05 • Filed to: None

The Queen of the Hammers and of Speed. May she watch over us plebes as we put around on this rock.

Jessi Combs: US racing driver given female speed record in 2019 fatal crash

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DISCUSSION (10)

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > DipodomysDeserti
06/25/2020 at 00:15

Without disrespecting her achievement or death, I kinda feel that “...and survived” should be a prerequisite to a speed record.

DipodomysDeserti > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
06/25/2020 at 00:28

It’s a world speed record, not a world stop record.

Unless you’ve attempted speed records of the sort, I do find your comment somewhat disrespectful. Unless you have the balls/ovaries to do stuff like this, you get to sit down, shut up and watch, especially when someone dies doing it.

No disrespect to you, but the image of some shlub sitting at a desk saying a person “isn’t really the record holder”, because their vehicle came apart at 823 km/h and killed them leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > DipodomysDeserti
06/25/2020 at 00:46

I think y ou misinterpre ted the intent of my comment. It was intended to reference the idea that if runs which res ult in the death of the participant are officially recognised as records, that will lead to people taking increased risks in pursuit of the record: I can’t see how that’s a good thing. N ormal folks might think the phrase “I’ll do this even if it k ills me” can’t be taken literally, bu t the sort of people who pursue speed records (or for that matter do things like ride the Isle of Man TT) aren’t normal folks. I should perhaps have made that point more explici tly.

DipodomysDeserti > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
06/25/2020 at 01:00

I gotcha. Instead of people who have dedicated their lives to achieving goals like this, you’ll get suicidal morons, ala the Gumball runs.

I think Ms. Combs gets a pass in this regard, as she was the real deal.

Shamoononon drives like a farmer > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
06/25/2020 at 01:00

Have other record holders died breaking their record? To me it feels like you should survive to hold the record, but I suspect others have been given awards for something they died doing regardless of gender.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > Shamoononon drives like a farmer
06/25/2020 at 01:10

I actually spent a few minutes trying to find that out, but I couldn’t find any evidence of it. There’s a guy who died attempting a free diving record: he appears to have actually beaten the previous record depth and made it back to the surface but died of an embolism a few seconds later . He’s no t in the record book for that dive . Likewise someone died in 1931 setting an aircraft speed record, which again doesn’t seem to have bec om e “official” (though it’s hard to tell from what I could find whether there were special requirements like “2 opposite runs” that he didn’t meet).

M.T. Blake > DipodomysDeserti
06/25/2020 at 07:27

Hopefully this record doesn’t fall in the same manner.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
06/25/2020 at 08:40

yea i’m with you, and i dont think you are disrespecting her.

shop-teacher > DipodomysDeserti
06/25/2020 at 08:42

I'm glad she holds the record. It's very bittersweet though. She was such a good role model for my daughters.

CobraJoe > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
06/25/2020 at 09:44

It was intended to reference the idea that if runs which result in the death of the participant are officially recognised as records, that will lead to people taking increased risks in pursuit of the record: I can’t see how that’s a good thing.

Which is exactly the reason for forcing safety restrictions on cars that are attempting an official speed record. Even a driver cannot be eligible for a top speed run in the unlimited category unless they achieved the requirements for the three previous licences for lower speeds.

You might go faster by strapping a JATO rocket to your Impala, but you will not be given a land speed record in doing so.

So, there are only so many risks that the governing body will allow you to take. However, it cannot be forgotten that land speed racing is still a highly dangerous sport at the edge of what is currently possible .