[00:01.040]--- Lesson 72 A car called Bluebird “
[00:07.800]--- First listen and then answer the question.
[00:13.600]--- What mistake was made?
[00:18.320]The great racing driver, Sir Malcolm Campbell, was the first man to drive at over 300 miles per hour.
[00:28.640]He set up a new world record in September 1935 at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah.
[00:39.040]Bluebird, the car he was driving, had been specially built for him.
[00:45.920]It was over 30 feet in length and had a 2,500-horsepower engine.
[00:53.880]Although Campbell reached a speed of over 304 miles per hour,
[01:00.160]he had great difficulty in controlling the car because a tyre burst during the first run.
[01:08.880]After his attempt, Campbell was disappointed to learn that his average speed had been 299 miles per hour.
[01:19.560]However, a few days later, he was told that a mistake had been made.
[01:25.560]His average speed had been 301 miles per hour.
[01:31.440]Since that time, racing drivers have reached speeds over 600 miles an hour.
[01:39.400]Following in his father's footsteps many years later, Sir Malcolm's son, Donald, also set up a world record.
[01:49.520]Like his father, he was driving a car called Bluebird.
[01:56.000]--- end