Name of the Project
Bloodhound supersonic car (SSC) project.

Location
UK and South Africa's Northern Cape province.

Project Owner/s
Grafton LSR.

Project Description
The project involves the construction of, possibly, the world’s fastest car.

The SSC is an amalgamation of car and aircraft technology, with the front half being a carbon-fibre monocoque, similar to that of a racing car, and the back half being a metallic frame, with panels like those of an aircraft. It is expected to reach a speed of more than 1 600 km/h.

The car, which is 13.5 m long and weighs 5.5 t, is powered by a Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine and will eventually include a Nammo rocket.  The car will have two front wheels mounted within the body and two rear wheels mounted externally within the wheel fairings. The metal wheels are designed to rotate 170 times a second.

The front of the car is made from carbon fibre, while the rear is made from aerospace-grade aluminium and other composites to support the engine, and eventually the rocket.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
R515-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The Bloodhound team announced in May 2018 that it expected to race in South Africa in 2019, slowly ramping up to tackle the 1 600 km/h record in October or November.

Latest Developments
The Bloodhound SSC will participate in a high-speed testing programme at Hakskeenpan, in the Northern Cape, between mid-October and mid-November this year.

The car is expected to reach speeds of more than 800 km/h, as part of the Bloodhound team’s larger objective of beating the current land speed record (LSR) of 1 228 km/h.

The team’s ultimate objective is to reach 1 609.34 km/h. Should this phase of testing go well, the plan is to beat the LSR in 12 months’ time.

The Bloodhound LSR team, including its relatively new owner Grafton LSR CEO Ian Warhurst, have outlined the test programme, which will comprise 12 runs over a two-week period, with time set aside for site preparation and abolition, as well as some leeway to repeat test runs as needed.

The tests will be used to compile data ahead of the LSR push, including using the various sensors to collate data for models that will attempt to predict how the car will handle at 1 609.34 km/h, initial brake tests, the effects parachute deployment will have on the car, and others.

It will be driven by Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green, who was part of the team that set the current LSR. Green has also been involved with the Bloodhound project since its inception.

One of the key focuses of tests will be to determine how the high-speed solid metal wheels will behave on a desert track. Green has said that as Hakskeenpan is a firm, smooth dry mud surface, the expectation is that the wheels will start to "plane" on the surface, but that it will offer some grip for the metal wheels, which a salt flat – such as Bonneville – will not.

He explains that with the wheels being so inflexible, the “give” will come from the surface, thereby providing a similar wheel surface to that of formula one cars.

He further notes that the Nammo rocket will not be included in the upcoming round of testing and that it will take about nine months to fit the rocket to the vehicle, once the test data has been analysed and integrated into the overall design.

The Bloodhound project went into administration in October last year, owing to a lack of financing, despite the fact that the car was mostly completed, and had already completed inaugural slow-speed (320 km/h) runs at the Newquay airport, in Cornwall, in the UK, in October 2017.

Warhurst bought the Bloodhound programme for an undisclosed amount in December and has, according to Green, been instrumental in the team progressing to a point where it is ready for high-speed testing.

The car will be shipped to South Africa at the beginning of October. “Moving a military jet engine to another country requires military approval,” Warhurst says, adding that the UK and South African governments fully support the project. 

The straight-line racing track at Hakskeenpan is a 20 km by 1.1 km strip, which has taken about seven years to prepare, with about 300 people from local communities having cleared 16 000 t of stone from the strip.

“[The] feeling is that this will create a lot of opportunities for employment,” Green has noted, adding that several film crews have already asked to use the track. He believes Hakskeenpan's desirability as a film location will only grow if the Bloodhound breaks the LSR.

Speed enthusiasts are also likely to want to visit the area.

Bloodhound continues to pursue a sponsorship and partnership model, with several companies already offering components or technical expertise to the Bloodhound team free of charge. Additionally, livery and title sponsorships are available.

Warhurst has used his own funds to maintain cash flow on the project; however, he has not confirmed how much the project has cost him to date, only that it has reached “seven figures”.  

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Castrol (lubricants, brake and hydraulic fluids), Poynting (antennas).

On Budget and on Time?
Project Bloodhound is again active under new ownership, after having been briefly halted, owing to a lack of funds.

Contact Details for Project Information
Grafton LSR, email info@graftonlsr.com.