WITH no speedo in the car and white sand as far as the eye could see Gemma Dunn had no idea she had just become the fastest woman on salt.
Now Gemma Dunn is aiming for the Olympics in a different sport.
If you’d blinked you may have missed her bright orange roadster rocket by on the eerily beautiful salt flats of Lake Gairdner in South Australia.
Dozens of speed-obsessed car enthusiasts had descended on the lake in March for Speed Week - the annual pilgrimage to chase land speed records and drive like a demon.
Gemma, who has racing blood running through her veins, wasn’t expecting much out of her first run after arriving on the flats, but she soon to get quite a surprise.
“My goal was just to take it easy and it turned out my first run was 231mph so I’d broken the record already,” she said.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD DOBSON
She went on to average 234mph (almost 375kmh) over three attempts and in doing so etched her name in the record books for her class of car.
She’s still a fair way off the fastest woman ever on four wheels, Jessi Combs, who in 2013 steered the 52,000 hp North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger to a speed of 392.954 mph (632.39kmh).
Gemma races in the B/FL class of car which means it’s fuel has an octane booster in it and is designed as a ‘Lakester’ meaning the shape is specifically designed for the salt flats.
Printed proudly on the nose of the car is the name ‘Rosie’, but the little rocket isn’t named after a family member of friend, it’s a little more cheeky.
Having already built a car that was named Thunderstruck after the song by Australian rockers AC/DC, the team - D&D Racing - wanted to continue the theme while incorporating their team name...somehow.
“Once we started building Rosie we realised that Thunderstruck was also an AC/DC song, who dad and I love, and we wanted to try and stick with the trend since we were an Aussie racing team,” Gemma said.
“Dad’s friend decided that the song A Whole Lotta Rosie from AC/DC was perfect as it sings about her DD breasts.
“Such a guy thing,” she laughed.
But there really was a whole lotta Rosie and she performed admirably on the flats.
More than 120km from the nearest tiny town of Knob Hill, Lake Gairdner is 550km north west of Adelaide - quite literally in the middle of nowhere.
Blinding white salt, up to 1.2m deep in some places, stretches as far as the eye can see.
Measuring 160km long and almost 50km wide, if you take a wrong turn here it could be hours before you find your way back.
Racing on the lake started back in 1990 and was Australia’s introduction to land speed racers.
Organiser pride themselves on keeping the event commercial free, boasting that there are no “corporate suites or posh restaurants overlooking Lake Gairdner’’.
It’s racing purely for enthusiasts who pump their own money into building their cars and get to the remote location on their own dollar.
Racing on the salt flats is not like driving on any other surface and the cars are something else as well.
“It’s quite surreal because the lake is completely white so you’re depth perception there is sort of gone - there’s nothing to gauge your speed off apart from a flag every quarter-mile,” Ms Dunn said.
“You kind of don’t realise you’re going that fast - there’s no speedo in the car so you don’t know your speed until you get out of the car and listen to the radio.”
The speedometer is removed because on that surface it’s basically useless.
“Driving on the salt lakes is kind of like driving on ice - you get a lot of wheel spin so it would give you a pretty incorrect reading so there’s really no point,” Gemma said.
Speed runs in the Dunn family.
Gemma’s dad Mark has been involved with cars for decades and recently worked on the set of Mad Max with their crazy vehicles.
Together with her brother, the three built the car “one Thursday night’’ over pizza and all raced in March.
“We’re a very competitive family, we always have been, but we also love to cheer each other on,” she said.
The person who eventually beats Gemma’s record on salt might want to think twice about boasting too much as the 20-year-old is also an expert shooter.
Having just won a bronze medal in trap shooting at the World University Games in Korea, she now has her sights squarely set on 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics.
Gemma fell into the sport by accident while holidaying a few years back.
While at a caravan park with her family she befriended two girls whose fathers had both represented Australia in shooting at the Olympics.
They suggested she try the sport and she hasn’t looked back.
“I’m always a go-getter and like to try new things so I had a go one day and I loved it.
“When I was at school everyone said I would be one of those people that try everything and I think that’s coming to fruition.”
With a great team already in place for next year’s Rio Games, Gemma is looking forward a further four years.
“Because it’s a sport you can do until you’re older I’m still relatively new to it even though I’ve been doing it for five years,” she said.
“Generally shooters peak between 25 and 30 and I’m only 20 so I’ve got a bit of a time to go yet.”
But will her Olympic dreams stop her from getting behind the wheel and returning to the salt?
Definitely not. After storming into the 200mph club, she’s aiming even higher now - if the car can keep up.
“I’ll definitely be trying, we’ll see if the car can do it.”
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD DOBSON
Everyday heroes: Regional NSW residents land Oz Day honours
Not all heroes wear capes – and it couldn’t be more true for these everyday champions from Regional New South Wales who have been honoured this Australia Day. See the full list.
Sydney’s dating problem: It’s not just you
The Daily Telegraph’s exclusive new series, ‘Heartbreak Harbour’, reveals just how tough the quest for love is in Sydney right now.