Almost a year after the crash that took Jessi Combs’ life in August 2019, the American race car driver is now officially the world's fastest woman. Posthumously, she achieved the feat of being the fastest land speed record holder for a woman by the Guinness World Records, The Guardian reported. Last year, Jessi was fighting for the title and clocked a speed of 522.783 miles per hour in a jet-powered car before her vehicle crashed. She was 39.
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The accident happened during the second run (two-way run competition) in the Alvord Desert, Oregon, USA. According to reports, the crash was the result of a mechanical malfunction.
The Guinness World Record stands at 522.783 mph. So after evaluation, the Guinness authorities have decided to bestow the honour to Jessi.
What You Should Know
Famous racer Jessi Combs awarded land-speed record by the Guinness World Record.
She achieved the record after she clocked 522.783 mph and died trying to break the record, last year.
Jessi was a popular TV personality and host of the Motor Trend series All Girls Garage.
Jessi, a resident of the South Dakota, broke the previous record held by stuntwoman Kitty O’Neil. She had set a record at 512.710 mph in 1976 and created history. "Jessi is the first person to break this record in more than 40 years," Guinness said.
Always in love with speed, Jessi reportedly started her career as a builder of hot-rod cars. In between her schedules on the tracks, she was frequently seen on television in a number of auto shows, including Overhaulin’, Truck U, MythBusters. She was a co-host for The List, which ran on Autoblog from 2011-2017. A famous TV personality, Jessi earned fame by hosting the Motor Trend series All Girls Garage.
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Her friend and teammate Terry Madden took to Instagram and said in a post that “no record could ever be worth her not being here”.
He added, “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. She woke up that morning to an alarm saying ‘let’s make history’ and we had an absolutely amazing day.”
Jessi died trying to break the record
On August 27 2019, Jessi died while attempting to set the record for the 'fastest woman on Earth'. Her family has stated that "Jessi's most notable dream was to become the fastest woman on Earth."
As per reports, she was behind the wheels of her jet-powered North American Eagle Supersonic Speed challenger. During the run, it malfunctioned, causing a crash in which Jessi lost her life. Reportedly, it was a mechanical failure in one of the front wheels during the run. Due to the accident, the 39-year-old driver died of blunt force trauma. According to Harney County Sheriff's Office, the wheel failure happened when the car was moving at a speed nearing 549.914 mph, reported by TMZ.
Jessi had several other titles to her credit, including the ‘fastest woman on four wheels’ in 2013 when she achieved the speed of 640.5 km/h in her Speed challenger. However, she broke her own record in 2016. She was the first woman to place at any Ultra4 event, the first woman to compete in The Race of Gentlemen event.
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