Special Motorsports Event - 10 Million Square Meters Of Desert Race Track Cleared

South Africa, Aug. 5, 2012: Land Speed Record (LSR) holder Andy Green visited the Hakskeen Pan in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa to view progress on the world’s fastest race track.

A team of 300 previously unemployed people funded by the Northern Cape government joined some volunteers to clear 10 million square metres of desert race track. With only two months’ work remaining on the run-off areas, the team has cleared 6,000 tonnes of stones from the 500m wide, 20km long stretch of desert. The clearing project spanning twenty-four months is set to be completed within the next few months in time for the BLOODHOUND SuperSonic Car to begin high speed testing on the pan during the summer of 2013.

Andy Green, a serving officer with the Royal Air Force, set a new Land Speed Record of 1228 kilometres per hour in October 1997. A small team lead by former LSR holder Richard Noble defied the odds and the scientific convention of the day to break the sound barrier – a feat many thought impossible. This record still stands.

Today, Andy Green, Richard Noble and many of the Thrust SSC team are engaged on a new and far more ambitious project: to build a car capable of achieving 1000 mph (1600 km/h). However, the BLOODHOUND Project is not primarily about speed. Rather, it is an international education initiative aimed at inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians by demonstrating these subjects in the most exciting way possible. The unique nature of the World Land Speed Record, where the challenge comes from confronting the laws of physics rather than other teams with similar technology, means the BLOODHOUND Project can share all its data, designs, achievements and setbacks in the process.

Consequently, the initiative is already being followed in 217 countries with approximately 7-million learners from 48 countries around the world registered to access BLOODHOUND information and lesson materials in class. The team has made presentations to hundreds of thousands of people since its launch at London’s Science Museum in October 2008.

According to Mrs Grizelda Cjikela, Northern Cape MEC for Education, their collaboration with this ground-breaking initiative underpins the province’s commitment to education and scientific innovation. “Education is the key to economic development, not only within the Northern Cape, but also the whole of South Africa. A project such as BLOODHOUND has the potential to inspire a whole generation of learners. As a government collective we are obligated to explore all opportunities to develop the province as a hub for technological and scientific advances. In recent years, this vision has been substantiated by not only being selected as the preferred site for the BLOODHOUND attempt, but also by winning the bid to host the Square Kilometre Array. With the recent announcement that the province’s first university will be established in Kimberley, we are firmly on track to provide our youth with the opportunity to build an incredibly bright future,” stated Cjikela.

The Northern Cape provincial government has actively partnered with initiatives such as BLOODHOUND as it has significant socio-economic benefits for the province. Not only does the strong educational focus deliver in terms of youth development, but BLOODHOUND will also make an economic contribution while simultaneously boosting technological skills. The event will also create massive media exposure internationally, which allows the province to showcase the unique diversity of its tourism offerings. Since repositioning itself as a premier destination for adventure and extreme sports, the Northern Cape has already attracted niche markets such as skateboarding, waterskiing and even motor racing.

Meanwhile, Dave Rowley from the BLOODHOUND education team, is now based full-time in South Africa with the Northern Cape Department of Education developing links with schools, colleges and universities across the country. Already 45 local schools have signed up with the education programme. Numerous partners have been recruited to support this programme, including Scifest Africa, Sci-Bono, Cape Town and Sci-Enza science centre, the South African Institute of Mechanical Engineering, ECSA, the British High Commission and the British Council. Many education suppliers have committed to support the programme, including Edit Microsystems who will be supplying free resources to schools, NEC and the Sangari Institute, who have recently launched the BLOODHOUND Class as part of F1 in schools. The Ambassador programme has also been launched and 15 engineers, scientists and speed enthusiasts have been recruited to help promote and deliver the education programme to schools across South Africa.

Andy Green said “I’m standing in the middle of the Hakskeen Pan on a perfectly cloudless winter's day and looking 10 km in each direction I’m standing in the middle of what is rapidly becoming the worlds best race track. The team of 300 South African workers have now finished clearing the main track 500 m wide and are now preparing the safety areas. They have already cleared 10 million square metres by hand and left the most perfect surface to run on. They are all enormously excited about the car coming to the Northern Cape next year, and having seen the work they’ve done I’m equally excited about getting it out here and starting to run at some very high speeds.” He continued, “We are enormously grateful for the fantastic support from the Northern Cape, because without their help we couldn’t have done this.”

BLOODHOUND SSC is the result of remarkable engineering that allows the ultimate racing car to accelerate from 0 – 1000 mph (1609 km/h) and back to zero in just 120 seconds, while sagely handling the phenomenal forces and loads acting upon it such as 47000 pounds thrust (equivalent to 180 F1 cars) generated by its jet and rocket engines; 30 tonne suspension loadings; air pressures on the bodywork of up to 10 ton per square metre and solid aluminium wheels, each weighing 105 kg spinning at 10,200 rpm and generating an extraordinary 50,000 G at the rim.

Currently well into the building phase of the project, large sections of the car are in manufacture. UMECO will shortly begin the lay-up of the carbon fibre monocell (cockpit) and the fabrication of the steel and aluminium rear chassis has begun at Hampson Aerospace in the United Kingdom. The BLOODHOUND engineers will have a rolling chassis assembled by the end of the year and aim to start UK runway testing up to 200 mph (321km/h) in summer 2013. The team will then decamp to Hakskeen Pan in South Africa to start the high speed shake down runs.