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Honda return to the USA this week with the aim of setting an outright land speed record for a Formula One car. The team had originally planned their bid for last October, but heavy rain at the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah forced them to delay the attempt.

Since then, an unofficial dry run at the Mojave airbase in California last November saw the team successfully achieve their 400 km/h (249 mph) target. In fact, South African driver Alan van der Merwe, who will again be at the wheel this week, bettered the mark three times, with a best of just over 413 km/h (257 mph).

Now Honda’s aim is to set an official record on the far more challenging surface conditions at Bonneville. The car being used for the attempt is a specially prepared, but race legal, chassis based on the team’s 2005 007 machine.