The Bloodhound Supersonic Car (Bloodhound SSC) will aim to break the current world land speed record and reach 1600km/h in South Africa, at Hakseenpan in the Northern Cape Province.
Yesterday the Bloodhound SSC successfully completed its first test runs at Cornwall Airport Newquay in the UK. Driven by current record holder Wing Commander Andy Green, the SSC reached 338km/h on the 2.7km long runway. The acceleration rate was 1.5G, reaching 322km/h from a standing start in just 8 seconds.
Bloodhound SSC is powered by an incredible 100 669kW, which is more than six times the total power output of the entire field of starters in Formula One. To achieve this immense power output and the target speed, the project team led by Richard Noble is placing its trust in a jet engine, rocket propulsion and a variety of high-performance lubricants from Castrol.
Yesterday marked the culmination of a month of tests and was the first opportunity to prove the car’s steering, brakes, suspension, data systems and the EJ200 jet engine before the team head to the Hakskeenpan with the initial target of reaching 1 287 km/h. The team will then go back to the UK to review the data before returning to South Africa with the aim of reaching 1 609 km/h.
3,000 school children start to arrive at @Newquay_Airport for the @SkillsShow & to see #BLOODHOUND run #Newquay2017 pic.twitter.com/3OIJ7R2JgG
— BLOODHOUND SSC (@BLOODHOUND_SSC) October 30, 2017
Castrol, the chosen oil of the Bloodhound project and a partner since 2014, has a notable heritage in Land Speed Racing. The world land speed record has been broken 21 times with Castrol as a partner, from Kenelm Lee Guinness’s first record attempt in 1922 215km/h to the current record 1 228km/h, set by Wing Commander Andy Green in Thrust SSC on 15th October 1997.
A.S. Ramchander, VP Marketing, Castrol said, “We are delighted to see Bloodhound SSC complete its first public runs. This partnership gives us the chance to showcase how our high-performance products such as Castrol Edge Supercar push the boundaries of performance and we have our sights firmly set on partnering on a 22nd World Land Speed Record.”
Source: supplied