News / Science
Bloodhound set record attempt date
The team behind Bristol’s Bloodhound supersonic car have announced they will hold their bid for a new land speed record in October 2017 – twenty years since the last record was broken.
Thanks to an injection of funding from new sponsors, the Bloodhound project is back on track, and plans to hold the high-speed testing in Hakskeen Pan, South Africa, have been unveiled.
Project director Richard Noble described Monday’s announcement as “probably the biggest moment in the project’s history’’ and says the breakthrough is down to ongoing support from sponsors, the team, and overwhelming public support.
is needed now More than ever
“We’re in this position thanks to the incredible support of our partners and sponsors, and the dedication and sacrifice of many people, including a skeleton crew who have held the fort and quite literally kept the lights on,” he said.
Pls RT: In October 1997 Thrust SSC set the current World Land Speed Record of 763mph…. #BLOODHOUNDisGo pic.twitter.com/Fm7r4ezs4r
— BLOODHOUND SSC (@BLOODHOUND_SSC) July 4, 2016
“Most of all it has been the amazing public response that has sustained us. Thousands of children up and down the country are racing model rocket cars and there is tremendous public enthusiasm for the Project wherever we go.’’
The Bloodhound project is the latest land-speed bid by Richard Noble and Andy Green who between them have held the record since 1983. Recent fundraising issues led production to come to a halt, and the Bloodhound supersonic car has been at a standstill in Bloodhound HQ in Avonmouth – with a threat it could be sold-off to the highest bidder to recover some costs.
However, Bloodhound engineers have now returned to work, and the countdown to “race-ready” is very much on with the first practice loading of the Bloodhound taking place during the Farnborough International Airshow on Monday, July 11.
Read more: The Bristol brains behind the Bloodhound
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