Your guide for your
Out
Witney, Carterton and villages Thursday, May 17 - Wednesday, May 23, 2018
GROUP oxfordshireguardian.co.uk
Going blue to raise awareness of dementia
leisure time in &
around Oxfordsh
ire
&About Weekly leisure guide for in and YUMMY! around Brewers, b kers & Oxford buarg ers at Blenheim
Bank holiday food festival at Palace
Free
United’s year: Review of Pep’s time in charge
Page 3 Scouting popularity grows
Page 9
Sport
101mph shed sets record
Record breaker: Kevin Nicks with his shed in Chipping Norton before it became the fastest shed in the world
By Owen Hughes THE fastest shed on wheels smashed its previous land speed record as it sped past 100mph on a beach in Wales. Kevin Nicks, 53, from Chipping Norton, beat his previous record for a motorised shed by more than 20mph at a Straightliners event on the Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire on Sunday. Hitting a top speed for the world record of 101.043mph, Kevin’s shed made history.
Last year, the gardener set the record at 80mph and since then more than doubled the power to gain an extra 25mph, claiming to reach 105mph on Sunday. He said driving his custom-built cabin at high speed was so smooth it was akin to driving “on the lovely brand new dual carriageway they’ve got down through the middle of Wales”. “People ask me what it’s like, if it’s rattling, but you could sit there one handed listening to the radio,” he said.
“It is constant fun, especially on motorways. “I go up the motorway at about 55mph, but once people pull up to me and start fi lming, I change down a gear, look at them, wave and put my foot down and disappear into the distance because it is so fast now.” Kevin built everything on the vehicle himself, from the scrap parts used for door handles swapped for a pack of beer at the scrap yard, to the 450hp twin turbo engine that is more powerful than most Porsches. Kevin started with a car bought
for £1,000 before taking the engine out of it and selling all the parts to recoup some of the money. He upgraded the machine with bigger turbos, a fuel pump, and £1,000 worth of sensors to make it reliable and safe to drive. Making use of his friend’s workshop on evenings and weekends, Kevin once entered the garage at 8am on a Saturday and was still there working on Monday when the mechanics turned up for work. He added: “It consumed my life
this winter; it’s not about the money, it’s about the sacrifices I’ve had to make, but it’s worth it. “The acceleration on it in second and third gear is the fastest thing I have ever driven, it is unbelievably fast.” Kevin said he has ideas to turn more things into cars and wants to approach companies to get funding for a hybrid vehicle. Fans can track the fastest shed’s progress this weekend at Elvington in Yorkshire via Facebook at https:// bit.ly/2IB4bAG
More printed copies than any other weekly newspaper in Oxfordshire (16,103 audited JICREG pending)
Is YOUR Garden Ready for Spring? B U I L D E R S
M E R C H A N T S
80-82 Station Road, Brize Norton, Carterton, Oxfordshire, OX18 3QB Tel: 01993 842172 www.aktimms.co.uk