Bloodhound supersonic car project saved

A 1,000mph race car project has been saved after an entrepreneur stepped in to buy the business.

The Bloodhound supersonic vehicle – built with a jet engine bolted to a rocket – is all but finished.

Its future was in jeopardy amid a failure to secure investment which forced the firm financing it into administration.

But Yorkshire-based entrepreneur Ian Warhurst has bought the project for an “undisclosed amount”.

Administrator Andrew Sheridan, said: “Ian has a strong background in managing highly successful businesses in the automotive engineering sector and he will bring considerable expertise to bear in taking the project forward.

“He will be outlining his plans for the project in detail early in the New Year.”

Mr Sheridan said the Ministry of Defence and Rolls Royce had both backed the buyout.

Mr Warhurst is the managing director of Barnsley engineering firm Melett, which specialises in turbochargers, repair kits and turbo parts.

The firm said he had an “interest in engines from an early age due to his family’s garage and haulage company business”.

The Bristol-based team behind the Bloodhound project aims to beat the existing land speed world record of 763mph (1,228km/h).

It is due to attempt to reach a record-breaking speed in South Africa, where an 18km-long (11-mile), 1,500m-wide (4,921ft) track at Hakskeen Pan in the Northern Cape has been prepared.

Previous test runs at Newquay Airport in 2017 saw Bloodhound reach speeds of 200mph (320km/h).

The project planned on running on Hakskeen Pan towards the end of 2019, when the water in the lakebed evaporated and the ground had become dry.

The Bloodhound, using a Rolls-Royce Eurofighter engine alongside a rocket, was then due to be tested at 500-600mph (800-965km/h) before approaching its top speed in further test runs during 2020 or 2021.