So, yes, your mind is full of lots of things you have to do rather than just absorbing the experience.
During the early part of that run, could you tell you had a winner on your hands?
Yes, I could feel it. You map off landmarks in your mind, so there was the place where the guys were standing. I would always pass them normally at around 430 kmp (267 mph). This particular time I went past them at 438 kmp. So I already knew, “OK, this is going quite well.”
And then another landmark—there’s a surface change, and I went over that faster than ever before. And there’s a radar on the straight that I passed well, and I thought, “Great, this is the run.” So I stayed [with the accelerator pedal pushed] flat out.
What was your immediate thought at that point?
You’re immediately looking for the other end, because there’s a banked curve at the end of each side of the track. It’s a banked track 12 miles all around, and you need to judge the right time to give up on it because the speed is still climbing, you never actually stop accelerating. And you need about a mile to get back down to 125. So there’s a lot to think about. It keeps you busy.
What a thrill. Does it make you hungry for speed at all times?
After I did the 304 mph run, for the next week I drove everywhere at 10 miles under the limit. It was just a relief not to have to drive fast anymore!
It’s a funny thing: When I’m not at work, I very rarely speed. First, I don’t feel the need. You have to do it when you’re at work all the time, so it’s almost a relief [not to]. But also there are so many points of danger on the normal road, particularly if there are people walking about. I’m quite happy just monitoring everything.
I’m not a serial speeder—70 miles an hour is fine.