(Wed 14 Mar 07)

The JCB Dieselmax team which set a new Land Speed Record for diesel cars last year has received a very special award.

This is the Dewar Trophy, which is in the gift of the Royal Automobile Club and has been available since 1906. "Available", but not presented - the Club does not make the award in a year when it feels that nobody deserves it, and JCB Dieselmax is only the 39th recipient in just over a century. The biggest hiatus in the Trophy's history was the 21-year gap between 1929 and 1950.

Things have gone somewhat better in the 21st century. The Trophy has already been awarded in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, the beneficiary on the last occasion being Ricardo for its part in the development of the Dual Clutch Transmission technology on the Bugatti Veyron. Appropriately enough, Ricardo was also connected with JCB Dieselmax, helping to increase the power of each of the car's two diesel engines by more than five times to 750bhp.

The result of the effort was a two-way average speed of 350.092mph, despite a slow second run and the fact that driver Andy Green (also the outright Land Speed Record holder in the supersonic Thrust SSC) never got as far as selecting top gear!

For more details of the record run, and links to earlier stories, click here .

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