Bloodhound on hunt for new investor as pandemic hits World Land Speed Record attempt
The Gloucestershire-based Bloodhound Land Speed Record project is looking for a new owner to take the team through to setting a new World Land Speed Record in 2022.
Bloodhound LSR’s current owner and Chief Executive, Ian Warhurst, who bought the car in 2018 – effectively rescuing it from the scrap heap, is now stepping back from leading the project and putting the vehicle up for sale.
He said: "When I committed to take the car high speed testing in 2019, I allocated enough funding to achieve this goal on the basis that alternative funding would then allow us to continue to the record attempts. Along with many other things, the global pandemic wrecked this opportunity in 2020 which has left the project unfunded and delayed by a further 12 months."
In 2019, the Berkeley, Gloucestershire-based Bloodhound team deployed out to South Africa to conduct high speed testing of the most advanced straight-line racing car in history. The car smashed the test programme target of 500 mph, hitting a peak speed of 628 mph (1011 km/h), validating the computer modelling used in designing the car and proving that Bloodhound has real record-breaking capability.
Ian added: "It has been a privilege to lead this team of world-class engineers over the past two years. I was spellbound – along with a huge audience around the world – as we tested the car up to 600+ mph in South Africa.”
The team now needs to install the Nammo monopropellant rocket, giving the car a top speed of over 800 mph (1287 km/h). Once again, the car will then run on its specially prepared 12-mile (19.2 km) long dry lake bed race track at Hakskeen Pan, Northern Cape, South Africa.
Completing the rocket installation and taking the car to South Africa to exceed 800 mph will cost £8 million, based on the costs of the test programme to date. With a global following and a high level of media coverage, including the highly successful Channel 4 documentary ‘Building the World’s Fastest Car’ which aired late last year, the project’s fundraising potential is significant as the record attempt gets closer. The project is expected to recoup increasingly large amounts through sponsorship and rights sales as the programme develops, making this a unique and exciting investment.
Ian is inviting a new owner to take over Grafton LSR Ltd, the holding company which owns the Bloodhound LSR project. The new owner will inherit a proven high-speed car with a demonstrated potential for an 800+ mph world land speed record.
He said: "At this stage, in absence of further, immediate, funding, the only options remaining are to close down the programme or put the project up for sale to allow me to pass on the baton and allow the team to continue the project. This gives someone with the right passion and available funding to effectively swoop in at the last minute and take the prize. I will, of course, be cheering from the side-lines when Bloodhound smashes through 800 mph.”
The project has inevitably been held back by the effects of the Covid-19 global pandemic. Work now needs to restart in the next few months to get ready for a 2022 record attempt. The alternative would be to put the car into long-term storage, with no certainty of being able to restart the project. As the prospect of a post-Covid world beckons, the Bloodhound team now needs to find a new owner to continue its ‘engineering adventure’.
Bloodhound driver Andy Green said: “In my opinion, the Bloodhound team has built the best Land Speed Record Car ever. It made our 628 mph test run look easy! We’re now raring to get to 800 mph+, to showcase this technical marvel and to invite a global audience to join in an incredibly exciting adventure. After the horrible 2020 pandemic year we have all just experienced, the world needs a good news story, and Bloodhound is ready to deliver it”.
