The 2015 running of the annual Bonneville Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, has been cancelled due to conditions deemed unsafe by officials.
The Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) and Bonneville Nationals Inc. (BNI) announced today that the event had officially been cancelled, confirming doubts over the event first raised earlier this month.
Officials had spent the weekend of the 4th of July on the Bonneville Salt Flats trying to find the minimum 7 miles (11.26 km) of adequate salt to conduct the 2015 Speed Week event; unfortunately without success, with a large portion of the courses underwater and other areas were suffering from rough or muddy salt.
SCTA President and Race Director Bill Lattin & the BNI Chairman Roy Creel spent the morning of the 20th on the salt to ascertain whether the event would go ahead.
Having hoped to find enough clear salt to run a 4 mile (6.4 km) short course, the only suitable surface available was 2 1/4 miles (3.6 km) of salt that could be used as a safe race course. Clearly not enough for safe high speed runs.
The rest of the salt flats are either still too wet and muddy to use.
First used for racing in 1912, the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah has hosted multiple speed record attempts. Notably Kiwi Burt Munro riding his 1920 Indian Scout set a world record in 1967.