The BLOODHOUND land speed record project is right on track with things going slowly but steadily for an attempt to reach 1000 mph (1600 km/h) in a unique Super Sonic car next year. Obviously they needed a proper venue for such ambitoius project, so they chose a desert in Hakskeen Pan in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa to create the world largest race track.

This track covers a staggering 10 million square meters, and needed a team of 300 workers and volunteers to clear it. Even though the clearing project requires another two months, the team has already cleared 6,000 tonnes of stones from the 500m wide, 20km long stretch of desert.

On this occasion Andy Green, a serving officer with the Royal Air Force and the holder of 1228 kilometres per hour speed record, and the man who will be driving the 1000 mph car, paid a visit to the site and helped with the operation.

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.”

The BLOODHOUND project is not just about speed and nothing else. 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.

We can hardly wait to see how things go on when they actually get boots on the ground and set about doing this super ambitious effort.