Salt Lake, home of speed and polygamy

JCBdieselmax is officially the world's fastest diesel-powered vehicle after hitting 333 miles per hour yesterday at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, the modern home of speed record attempts.

The car completed two runs - the first at 324mph and the return run at 333.3mph - giving an average of 328.8mph. This easily beats the previous record of 235.7mph set in 1973.

The team is not finished yet, and will make another attempt later today. Record attempts are made early in the morning when conditions on the salt flats are best.

JCB chairman Sir Anthony Bamford said: "This is a marvellous achievement for JCB and a wonderful tribute to British engineering."

"This is by no means just a PR exercise, the technologies developed will trickle down to our whole range of products. The advanced ear defenders we've been using for instance will help future JCB drivers ignore even the loudest horns and complaints. There are plenty of new challenges as well - with such a low vehicle how do we ensure that the driver displays a full slab of pasty back-fat wobbling along in time to the highly tuned diesel throb."

To celebrate this great achievement JCB are asking operators countrywide to enjoy a ceremonial lap of honour round country roads on the coming Bank Holiday. "We've shown how fast a JCB can go, now let's demonstrate just how plush the low speed ride is, and how difficult it is to get past one of these bastards on a typical road. We expect to see long trains of vehicles to show there support by joining in!"