Jessi Combs given posthumous speed record

MOTORCYCLE celebrity and land speed record racer Jessi Combs has been honoured with a posthumous land speed record following her death last summer.

The popular celebrity has been given the ‘Fastest land speed record (female)’, a record that has stood for more than 40 years.

A webpage on GuinnessWorldRecords.com reads:

‘The fastest land speed record (female) is 841.338 kph (522.783 mph), and was achieved by Jessi Combs (USA) in the Alvord Desert, Oregon, USA, on 27 August 2019.

‘Jessi is the first person to break this record in more than 40 years.’

Beyond her four-wheeled exploits, Jessi had become a popular figure in the motoring industry on two-wheels also. She was a frequent TV personality who appeared in numerous mostly US-based series’ including Overhaulin', All Girls Garage, and Mythbusters, while her attempts to break this record were being chronicled for a TV show too.

Ms Combs’ partner, Terry Madden took to social media to praise his late partner and the award. He said that "no record could ever be worth her not being here".

"But it was a goal that she really wanted - and as hard as it is for me to even look at the car without crying. I'm so proud of her," he added. "She woke up that morning to an alarm saying 'let's make history' and we had an absolutely amazing day."

He and Ms Combs had a "heart-to-heart" about the run, which was supposed to be her last attempt at the record, Mr Madden wrote.

"That was to be the last time she ever got in that car," Mr Madden wrote. "It has torn me apart that all I had to do was say let's go and we would have left before that run."