Following the arrival of the British Steam Car team at Edwards Air Force Base on 29 June, there has been a month of intense activity but, unfortunately, a number of setbacks.

The 'Base Camp' was established without much difficulty and initially it was thought that nothing on the British Steam Car had been affected in transit. However, this proved not the case and first a load sensor and then a faulty water filter had to be replaced.

Because of the extreme daytime heat at Edwards Air Force Base (well over 100°F, usually), the team is obliged to begin work at 5.00am; by 10.00am it can invariably be too hot for the car and team to continue.

One important milestone was passed successfully when the British Steam Car was inspected by representatives from the Southern Timing Association and the FIA (the international governing body of motor sport) and declared eligible to attempt the world steam car record.

However, the high temperatures brought further problems, including preventing the refueling rigs from working properly. This took several days to overcome and it was not until 17th July that two static steam runs were carried out successfully. The team has since ordered dry ice and a huge air conditioning unit to cool the vehicle down.

Unfortunately, there was a further setback a few days later when two (of the 12) boilers failed and had to be replaced. Each time a delay such as this occurs the team is hampered by the rising air temperatures – when it becomes too hot to run the car anyway.

While all this activity has been taking place, test driver, Don Wales and fellow team members have spent many hours “fodding”, clearing foreign object debris from the track where the car will run. They have completed 2 ½ miles of the 6 miles stretch and will continue to do so.

The team is working tirelessly to get the British Steam Car ready for its attempt. The time keepers have been booked in from Wednesday 29th July – 4th August, before they depart to Bonneville for 10 days.