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Bloodhound LSR tops 1000km/h in testing

The British land-speed record chasers have topped 1000km/h, with a full record attempt to come soon.


Darcy Foster • The Bloodhound LSR has recorded a top speed of 1010km/h (628mph) in final testing for 2019 ahead of a land-speed record attempt some time in the next two years.

Piloted by Air Force wing commander Andy Green, the Bloodhound LSR completed a number of tests and obtained vital data to help engineers determine the rocket’s payload size for a crack at the current land-speed record.

Speaking after the test's conclusion, Green said “the stability and confidence the car gives me as a driver is testament to the years of world class engineering that has been invested in her by team members past and present”.

“With all the data generated by reaching 1010 km/h (628 mph), we’re in a great position to focus on setting a new world land-speed record in the next year or so.”

Green is the current land-speed record holder, piloting the Thrust SSC in 1997 to a top speed of 1227km/h (763mph) and in the process becoming the first person to break the sound barrier in a land vehicle.

The Bloodhound LSR project was launched in 2008 as the ‘Bloodhound SSC’ by Richard Noble.

Noble held the land-speed record for 14 years, recording a top speed of 1019 km/h (633 mph) in 1983.

With Andy Green signing on as pilot, the Bloodhound LSR’s ultimate goal was to surpass 1000mph (1609km/h).

Over a lengthy, ten-year developmental and testing process though, skyrocketing costs eventually forced the program into administration in October 2018.

Fortunately, British businessman Ian Warhurst purchased the business and its assets in December 2018, renaming the initiative from Bloodhound SSC to ‘Bloodhound LSR’ under his new company Grafton LSR Ltd.

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