Since 1990, a growing band of enthusiasts has been annually returning to Lake Gairdner in the outback. The aim of Speed Week is — as its name suggests — to set new speed records. The highlights of this year's event included a 96-year-old at 97mph, and a bride and groom who tied the knot.
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00:00In the middle of nowhere these drivers and riders are making their own history.
00:09They've come from all over Australia to race on Lake Gairdner and create new records and
00:15memories.
00:16It's the cars that get you first and the bikes but then it's the people you meet and you
00:21look forward to coming back each year and it's like one big family.
00:26Out on the track there are more than 180 entrants.
00:30They race anything from tiny 50cc motorbikes to amped up taxis and super powered trucks.
00:40There's old classic motorbikes with even older riders.
00:45Peter Mouncy from Queensland is 96 and chasing new adventures on a 1949 Bellasette motorcycle.
00:53I'm trying to get 100 miles an hour out of it.
00:56So I've been sort of trying to keep up with my age with the motorbike as a sort of purpose
01:03and I don't think I'm going to make it both ways.
01:09All records are registered in miles and Peter just pipped his age.
01:1397 miles per hour or 156 kilometres.
01:17Lionel West in the bronze Aussie, a heavily modified Commodore, is on a comeback.
01:23He crashed here at over 400 kilometres an hour several years ago but this year set a
01:29remarkable new speed record of 282 miles per hour or just under 450 kilometres.
01:38It would make it the fastest four-door sedan in the world pretty much.
01:42For anyone to step into a car that's been in a crash like that, yeah, I don't know whether
01:49it's insanity or sanity but there you go.
01:53Also showing their commitment were Wayne and Kylie Mumford from Victoria who took their
01:58own leap of faith on the lake.
02:00Kylie mentioned it would be a fun place to get married and I've sort of been in the
02:04back of the brain for a little bit so yeah we did it.
02:07Despite all the time, effort and money that the participants put into getting here to
02:12Lake Gairdner, there's one thing they can't control and that's the weather.
02:18This year winds shut the track at different times but despite that 72 new records were set
02:26and no doubt they'll be back again to test their limits in 2026.
02:37you