Bloodhound LSR Preparing For High-Speed Tests In South Africa In October

The rejuvenated Bloodhound project is back on track and the company says it will take its supersonic prototype to the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa in October to conduct high-speed tests.

The vehicle, now known as the Bloodhound LSR (Land Speed Record), has been over a decade in the making but appeared to be dead in the water last December due to lack of funding. However, the project was saved from administration at the last minute by Yorkshire entrepreneur Ian Warhurst and was relaunched in March.

“This is new territory for the Bloodhound project,” Warhurst told the BBC. “Six months ago, all this seemed a long way out of reach, but this is a reality now. We’re paying out funds as we speak; we’re financially committed to going (to South Africa).”

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Bloodhound wants to push the LSR through to speeds of around 500 mph (800 km/h) during testing in South Africa before attempting to set a new land speed record in late 2020. That record currently sits at 763 mph (1228 km/h) and has been standing for a long time, as it was set by the ThrustSSC in October 1997.

“I’m thrilled that we can announce Bloodhound’s first trip to South Africa for these high-speed testing runs. This world land speed record campaign is unlike any other, with the opportunities opened up by digital technology that enabled the team to test the car’s design using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and that will allow us to gather and share data about the car’s performance in real time,” Warhurst added.

Bloodhound will conduct the high-speed tests with a Rolls-Royce Eurofighter jet engine, while an additional rocket engine will be fitted for the actual record run.