Green speed machine

The Bloodhound on a run at Hakskeen Pan, South Africa

Speed; it has seemingly forever been a passion for humans, and an obsession for some. Written records of going higher, further, longer, or in this case, faster mark our history. In the case of the officially recognised Land Speed Record, teams have for 125 years tried to best previous records. Among the famous names of those record-setters are Sir Malcolm Campbell, Sir Henry Segrave, Richard Noble OBE and Andy Green.

Now, the Bloodhound LSR team are searching for another name to add to that list and are kicking off their quest with a display this November at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, considered by some the home of land speed record cars.

The current record for the highest speed of a vehicle on land has been held since 1997 by former RAF pilot Andy Green who drove Thrust SSC to 763.035mph (1227.985km/h) across the Black Rock desert in the USA, at the same time becoming the first person to break the sound barrier on land. Bloodhound is a proven machine, with high-speed tests across Hakskeen Pan in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa in 2019, where it achieved 628mph (1,010km/h). Now, the team wants to rewrite the record books by pushing the record to over 800mph (1,288km/h).

This will also be the first ever attempt powered by sustainable fuels and producing net zero carbon emissions. National Motor Museum CEO, Dr Jon Murden, said: "The chance to see Bloodhound here at the National Motor Museum with the other iconic speed-record cars in our collection will be a very special experience. A project like this can be very powerful in promoting STEM and introducing a new generation to cutting-edge engineering, something that is at the heart of the Museum’s ethos."

(Words: Newspress and Philip Devine | Pic: Copyright permission graciously permitted by Charlie Sperring via NewsPress)

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