Bloodhound LSR up for sale in 'last chance' for project

Land Speed Record News

The future of the Bloodhound LSR project is at a critical point as it is put up for sale

Bloodhound LSR, 2019

Bloodhound LSR is up for sale

Bloodhound LSR

The Bloodhound LSR project is up for sale in another hit for the team hoping to set a new land speed record.

According to Bloodhound, it is “last chance” for the project to survive as it seeks another new owner.

After its inception and 2017 runway tests at Newquay Airport in Cornwall, the Bloodhound fell into administration but was saved by entrepreneur Ian Warhurst who has owned the car since 2018.

With the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, funding and sponsorship has dried up and Warhurst is now hoping to find a new owner to buy Grafton LSR Ltd, the holding company which owns the project.

Warhurst paid for high-speed testing in 2019 when the car reached 628mph, powered by its jet engine, but the future of the project was dependent on further investment to enable an attempt at the land speed record in 2022. After several appeals, fresh investment is now critical to the next phase of the operation.

The cost for the land speed record attempt is expected to total around £8million, based on Bloodhound’s data on testing and the efforts needed to install the Nammo monopropellant rocket to take it above 800mph.

“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,” Warhurst said.

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“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.

“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.”

Should fresh investment not arrive, the project is set to be indefinitely shelved with the car placed into long-term storage.

Work would need to begin over the next few months in order to have it ready in time for a record attempt in 2022.

Driver Andy Green said that the project was the best chance of breaking the land speed record of 763.035mph.

“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.”