One thing I have noticed from my own experience as well as studying the Bonneville results is that most vehicles, especially bikes do not improve their speed from the 3 mile to the 5 mile. Some even slow down. Light vehicles like bikes can get to their maximum speed pretty quickly and don't need the extra 2 miles for acceleration.
I know it is cool to run the long course, but the extra length can expose the vehicle and driver to engine failure, overheating, bad surface, etc. Any comments on this?
Don