Bloodhound LSR achieves fastest speed to date

According to a statement from the team, the third run - during which the car’s EJ200 jet engine ran with full reheat (a.k.a. afterburner) for 12 seconds - marks the true beginning of the high-speed test programme, as all systems necessary for running with reheat have now been tested and checked.

Read our interview with Bloodhound CEO Ian Warhurst

Bloodhound LSR arrives in South Africa 

Bloodhound completes first public run

Three ‘run profiles’ have now been completed, starting at 100mph, building to 200mph – the previous top speed achieved at Newquay in 2017 – before hitting 334mph in Run Profile 3.

The car’s speed will be built up in 50mph increments over subsequent run profiles, carried out over the next four weeks, with a target top speed above 500mph for this testing programme.

Bloodhound driver and current World Land Speed Record holder Andy Green said: “We’ve had two very successful runs today, with the second run reaching a max speed of 334mph – going from 50mph to 300mph in 13 seconds. There was strong cross wind gusting at over 15mph and we’ve established that this is pretty much the limit for running in the car. We’re happy because this was a successful test, now we’re ready to progress on to higher speeds.”