The Bonneville Salt Flats remain bereft of racing engines as two more landspeed events were canceled this month.
The Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials, scheduled to take place Aug. 30-Sept. 3, and the World Finals, scheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 2 were both canceled this month due to water on the track, representatives from each organization said.
“We evaluated moving the course, such as last year, and could not find better conditions to support two courses or a viable alternate pit location,” said Delvene Manning, owner and event manager of the motorcycle races. “Due to the volume of water that continues to persist, the normal rates of absorption/evaporation are questionable.”
Manning also expressed concern that 300 racing motorcycles would cause the course to quickly deteriorate.
The Southern California Timing Association also made a decision to cancel its World Finals event after repeated visits to the salt flats, according to its website.
“Our course prep crews have made multiple trips to the salt to prepare the race courses and were not able to find even one good long course, unfortunately,” the cancellation announcement said.
Bill Lattin, SCTA president, said the decision was made to protect driver safety as well as the salt flats.
“The salt’s in pretty bad shape. I don’t think anybody’s going to race there this year,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to heal this year. The salt won’t be able to sustain the amount of people we bring to the salt flats. I like to keep people safe, so I think I’m going to cancel this year and try again next year.”
Lattin said he believes both rain and mining companies operating on the salt flats are responsible for the salt’s deterioration, but added time would heal everything.
The next event on the salt flats’ agenda is World of Speed, set for Sept. 12-15. Ellen Wilkinson, representing the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association, said the association will make a final decision Friday about whether or not it will go through with the event.
“We will put a notice on our home page about the decision,” she said.
On the other hand, Cook’s Landspeed Shootout, scheduled for Sept. 17-21, posted an announcement on its website that the “Shootout is not canceled. Cook team is there right now grooming the course and it is improving. Most of it is getting pretty good and they are working on the bad spots. If there is no rain, it will be run as far as we can tell right now.”
Lisa Reid, public affairs specialist for the Bureau of Land Management, said she noticed a lot of standing water on the salt flats the last time she went out to observe them.
“It was like driving in crushed, wet snow,” she said. “It stuck to the bottom of my shoes. … If you’re driving 100-something miles an hour, you can’t ride on a soft track. The salt flats involve such a complicated process, and so many things affect it.”
To better understand the reasons behind salt deterioration, the BLM has teamed up with University of Utah Associate Professor Dr. Brenda Bowen to study the salt flats. The study will be extensive and ongoing through the next three years, Reid said.
This is the second consecutive year landspeed races have been canceled due to rain and deteriorating conditions on the salt.