Cannonball Record Beaten By Solo Driver

UPDATE: My exclusive interview with Fred here

We've all seen the Cannonball Run films, a must for any petrol head, featuring a coast-to-coast US time trial; racing from New York to Los Angeles. Well, it's not as fictional as you might think. The real life start point is the Red Ball Garage in Manhattan, New York and the finish point is the Portofino Hotel, Los Angeles. The distance is a touch over 2,800 miles. This unsanctioned, illegal race has been taking place for decades and, unsuprisingly, is what inspired the 1981 film, starring Burt Reynolds.

Due to the nature of the event, records have tended to stand for some time, such is the required preperation and willingness to break the law (with the potential of a custodial sentence, if apprehended).

In 2006 Alex Roy and Dave Maher set a new record of 31 hours and 4 minutes, in a 2000 BMW M5 at an average speed of 91mph. They were the subject of the recently released documentary, APEX: The Secret Race Across America.

That record stood until 2013 when it was bested by Ed Bolian, Dave Black and Dan Huang in a 2004 Mercedes AMG CL55 in 28 hours and 50 seconds, at an average speed of 98mph.

It wasn't until 2019 that the record was beaten again. This time it was Arne Toman, Doug Tabbutt, and Berkeley Chadwick in a Mercedes AMG E63 in 27 hours and 25 seconds, at an average of 103mph.

Then came COVID-19, lock down, and quieter roads. In early 2020 "Captain Chaos" (a team not going public) did the run in 26 hours and 38 minutes, in an Audi A8 at an average of 106mph.

And then we come to Fred Ashmore. Insanely, not only did he complete the 2,806 mile trip in 25 hours and 55 minutes, but he also did it solo... in a rented Mustang! It's unclear how Avis will react when they discover that he removed all the superfluous seats and replaced them with additional fuel tanks, but I doubt they'll be pleased. They'll be even less pleased when they realise that he drove the car at an average speed of 108mph for the whole journey. His time knocked a good chunk off the previous record, a feat made even more impressive when you consider that he got stuck at a checkpoint for 25 minutes.

As is normal, Fred added extra fuel tanks to his car. What was usual though is that he figured that by not taking along passengers/co-drivers, he could utilise the saved space for more tanks. Whereas previous runs had cars equipped with around 250 litres of fuels tanks, Fred managed to squeeze an incredible 490 litres into the Mustang! More fuel meant less fuel stops and less time standing still. Amazingly, he managed the whole journey with just one stop, where he was met by a team who refilled all the tanks. He finished the event with just 39 miles worth of fuel remaining; impressive in a car which recorded an average of 12.3mpg for the journey!

Toilet breaks were avoided by urinating into empty bottles as, despite the length of the event, every second counts. Record or not, this was a supreme endurance achievement. Staying awake (and alert) at speeds often in excess of 150mph for 26 hours is no small ask.

Jeremy Clarkson once said that the fastest car is a rental and it turns out he might be right.

I posted about this achievement on Facebook and was happy to have the man himself chime in:

His Avis feedback form on the Mustang is superb.

Although, I'm not sure if they'll view this as good publicity or trolling.

But he said he did well in the same car later on, so maybe it's an advert for how well Avis maintain their cars?

He did say that he didn't mind me posting his comments here and that he put the seats back and replaced the rear tyres!

The Facebook thread is here.

If you want to hear from the man himself, here's my interview with him:

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