Most firms have an inspirational leader – someone who can lead by example and bring the best out of their staff. Some even have a leader who earns genuine admiration – perhaps for his/her work ethic, social responsibility or ability to think of the ideas that others simply can’t. Few, however, can boast of a boss quite like Geoff Stilwell (pictured), CEO and MD of Beech Underwriting.
With Stilwell it’s not the fact that he is at the head of the market leading terrorism insurance MGA – a massive achievement in its own right – that catches the water cooler talk among staff. Instead it’s the fact that his made his personal dream a reality. And what a dream: to chase and break landspeed records.
“I have been involved in motorsport since I was a kid,” he said. “My family were involved in that industry when I was young, so it was really in the blood.”
Few could have imagined, however, quite where those genetics would lead. Despite finishing third in an illustrious championship riding a Kawasaki Pro Stock drag bike back in 1983, Stilwell’s devotion to his work and family took him away from motorsport for many years – but when the opportunity arrived to step back into the cockpit, he leapt on it.
“About three years ago I was at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Banquet and I was presenting an award to ‘Ron Hope’ of the USA,” he said. “He has raced here in the UK, Europe, New Zealand and of course the US, and owns a team called Rat Trap Racing. It was while on stage that Ron told the 300 guests that I was going to drive one of the Rat Trap Racing landspeed cars at Bonneville the following year. I was shocked as this was the first thing that I knew about it. I honestly thought he was joking. But no.
“So, in 2016 I made the long trip to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah were by I was put in the team’s ‘school car’… a turbo charged Dodge capable of over 175mph… to get my licence. Without boring you and going into too much detail the licencing procedure is long and very time consuming. But, the organizers have to know that you know how to drive the car, that you can exit the car in the event of something going wrong - even if you are on fire and doing 150mph with the cockpit filled with smoke.”
Possible scenarios like that, however, did not keep Stilwell away – and by the following year he had picked up his current race car – 7707 - from his friends Carl Olson and Mike Kuhl.
“The car was a proven record holder but sadly because Mike had been diagnosed with a serious illness that meant they had to sell the car,” he explained. “I took the car back to my Los Angeles base where it was completely stripped down and rebuilt. The race car was specifically built for landspeed attempts - this is not something you can drive on the street. The engine makes around 1800 to 2000bhp, perhaps a little more.
“On my third run in the car I achieved an average speed of 251mph between the second and third miles. That was good enough for me to qualify for the back-up run to set the record.
“At precisely 7am we made it to the start line for our back up run. We were last in the queue. Finally, at 8.08am I was driving down the track and achieved a top speed of 265mph between the second and third mile and that gave me an average of 258.679mph, setting the new landspeed record for the class.”
Despite his incredible success in such a short period, Stilwell warns that the realities of the lifestyle can often be harsh.
“People think this is easy, trust me it is far from easy,” he said. “At Bonneville out on the Salt Flats it was 135F with the humidity around 20%. The heat really saps you. We are lucky because our trailer has air-con so we could get out of the heat.
“The highs far outweigh the lows, but when you get a low - oh boy are they bad. Something silly can happen or break, and you think of all the man hours put in by the crew to get you to Bonneville.”
Still, it’s all been worthwhile – with those highs making every bead of sweat worth the effort.
“When I ran over 250mph for the first time I could not believe it – I was just ecstatic,” he said. “It is very emotional - and believe it or not this is one of the few places on the planet you can actually see the curvature of the earth. Bonneville is just an incredible place to go to. It is one of the true wonders.”
As for the future, Stilwell now bases his landspeed efforts near Nashville in Franklyn, Tennessee and is preparing the vehicle for 2019 and the lofty goal of reaching 300mph. Taking the time to thank everyone who has supported his efforts – Lucas Oil, ISKY Cams, Stage V Engineering, Rat Trap Racing and his crew – he sets his sights firmly on the next adventure.
“Check your calendars for Bonneville Speed week starting August 10, and come find team ‘7707’,” he said.
