Photo: tfloffroad.com
At the end of last month, racer, fabricator and television personality Jessi Combs was killed while trying to set a new world record for the fastest land-speed for a woman.
Combs had been trying to officially become the fastest woman on earth for years, and she came close enough several times, at the wheel of the jet-powered North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger. In 2013, she reached 398 mph, topping that performance a couple of more times. Neither was made official because of technical issues.
She was hoping to make it official this year, at the wheel of the same jet-powered 4-wheeler, in the Alvord Desert in Oregon. When news of her death spread, most believed she died trying and failing to achieve her dream. Her team is now saying that she actually did break the record – it just hasn’t been made official yet.
The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles hosted a Jessi Combs exhibit, Jessi Combs: Life at Full Speed, honoring her work. This is where her team made the announcement that they would be entering her latest achievement into the Guinness Book of World Records, in the hope that she becomes the fastest woman on earth.
You can catch the announcement in the video below, at the 17-minute mark. Combs did 2 record-breaking runs before the tragic accident, reaching 515.346 mph and 548.432 mph, respectively. In order for the submission to be validated, she would have had to have 2 consecutive runs, at a higher speed than that of the current record holder, Kitty O’Neil. She set the record in 1976 at 512.7 mph, at the wheel of a three-wheeled rocket-powered SMI Motivator.
The average of Combs’ two runs puts her at 531.889 mph, which would make her the fastest woman on earth, if Guinness validates the achievement.
The causes of Combs’ crash are still under investigation. Meanwhile, her family and colleagues are working hard to honor her work as a pioneer in a male-centered industry – and the Guinness submission would also serve this purpose.
She was hoping to make it official this year, at the wheel of the same jet-powered 4-wheeler, in the Alvord Desert in Oregon. When news of her death spread, most believed she died trying and failing to achieve her dream. Her team is now saying that she actually did break the record – it just hasn’t been made official yet.
The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles hosted a Jessi Combs exhibit, Jessi Combs: Life at Full Speed, honoring her work. This is where her team made the announcement that they would be entering her latest achievement into the Guinness Book of World Records, in the hope that she becomes the fastest woman on earth.
You can catch the announcement in the video below, at the 17-minute mark. Combs did 2 record-breaking runs before the tragic accident, reaching 515.346 mph and 548.432 mph, respectively. In order for the submission to be validated, she would have had to have 2 consecutive runs, at a higher speed than that of the current record holder, Kitty O’Neil. She set the record in 1976 at 512.7 mph, at the wheel of a three-wheeled rocket-powered SMI Motivator.
The average of Combs’ two runs puts her at 531.889 mph, which would make her the fastest woman on earth, if Guinness validates the achievement.
The causes of Combs’ crash are still under investigation. Meanwhile, her family and colleagues are working hard to honor her work as a pioneer in a male-centered industry – and the Guinness submission would also serve this purpose.
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