In 1909, the Blitzen Benz was a race car built by Benz & Cie in Mannheim, Germany. Carl Benz himself was in fact against the project. He was of the opinion that motor racing did not add anything of value to the production of regular automobiles. Julius Ganss, a board member at Benz & Cie., had very different ideas. He felt that there was one thing above all to be gained from the proposed record-breaking car: publicity. For it would be faster than any other road-going or airborne vehicle of its time, including motorboats and trains. On 23 April 1911 Burman proved the impossible. He raced across the sands of Daytona Beach to achieve an average speed of 228.1 km/h over a flying mile, with 226.7 km/h for the flying kilometer. This was a new land speed record that was to remain unbroken until 1919.