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few of the famous monikers of Bonneville lore that have set the mark for all who have come since. The 100-square-kilometre lake bed also provides plenty of room to experiment, with tracks as long as 11 kilometres. If the racers are lucky, and good, they are rewarded for their passion with a new speed mark that only other racers will truly appreciate. If they are unlucky, the price of making an attempt can be dear. Events such as Bonneville's World of Speed are also a democratic affair. With a separate track for production vehicles that run under 130 m.p.h., one can enter the family minivan and still take part for the price of an entry fee. Vehicles are started not by class but in the order they line up – the only filters imposed being that entries must be wheel-driven and burn non-exotic fuel. And to use the long-course track, drivers must prove their vehicles can run faster than 175 m.p.h. In the process, the event fosters a culture of sportsmanship. If two vehicles are scheduled to make record attempts in the same class, the one believed to be slower runs first. Its driver then has a chance to break an old mark and be a record-holder for a while – if only for a few minutes, until the other vehicle races. And it's these runs for a record that generate the most excitement. Kelowna motorcycle-design guru Roger Goldammer arrived at Bonneville for the first time in 2006. Rimmed by jagged blue-grey mountains on one side, by only heat mirages on the other, Bonneville was the perfect backdrop for a one-off challenge 34 W e s t w o r l d p33-35_Utah.indd 34 >> Summer 2013 race for the TV show he was participating in. What the three-time world-champion designer didn't know at the time was how deeply Bonneville would get under his skin. He has returned each year since to test his mettle – and his metal. "Everyone jokes about the salt being addictive, and it very much is," he says. "There's just something about the place that draws you in: the quest to get the most out of your machine, to challenge yourself against conditions that vary so much, dealing with the mechanical gremlins that arise. It's hallowed ground to gear heads of all types." The experience was a revelation to the B.C. bike builder, who was more accustomed to the highly competitive and often self-centred world of custom show bikes. He found Bonneville's speed enthusiasts – some of whom had been racing on the salt for more than four decades – curious, friendly and, above all, collaborative. "All of a sudden you're embraced by them all – anything you need, any help, it's available to you. Even as a spectator you can just walk into anyone's pit and ask pretty much any question, and they're happy to share because they live those machines." On his last day of his 2006 foray, "oldboy racer" Tom Anderson warned Goldammer he would soon be back. "He was right, too. I was hooked, but he'd seen it many times before." As the international racing community well knows, there are very few places on the planet with enough real estate to race full throttle for extended periods of time – "that's the draw of the place, and the danger," says Goldammer. "Because it loads things up [puts a tremendous strain on machinery parts] and you can destroy your equipment very easily, which is what I faced this past year." In August 2012 the salt gremlins thwarted Goldammer at the flats' BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials. He brought down a stock-based Harley (heavily modified, of course) and had just touched the 200-m.p.h. mark with it when the engine failed. But he'll be back again this year with the same bike – equipped with a few new wrinkles – and nothing but love and respect for the Bonneville racing community. "There's just something about the place." Monique Sache of Delta, B.C., has long combined her love of motorsports with a passion for race photography, so when she first heard about Bonneville (top l-r) Roger Goldammer, Flamin' Mo Photography, Paul Sinkewicz 13-04-26 10:04 AM