Watch: British driver who broke sound barrier sets new speed record
Andy Green set the fastest time ever recorded in a hydrogen-powered car, reaching 406mph (654km/h).
British driver Andy Green, the first person to break the sound barrier in a car on land, has broken another record. At the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, Green reached a speed of 406mph, the fastest a hydrogen-powered car has ever traveled. This new record surpasses the previous hydrogen-powered speed record by more than double.
Green, a 64-year-old retired Royal Air Force pilot, achieved this milestone in a hydrogen-powered car powered by two internal combustion engines, each delivering 800 brake horsepower. The record was measured as the average of two runs.
Twenty years ago, Green set a world land speed record for a diesel vehicle in the JCB Dieselmax, reaching speeds over 350mph. In 1997, he also broke the sound barrier in the jet-powered ThrustSSC, reaching a speed of 763mph.
Green attributes his success to his wife's encouragement, which led him to accept the challenge after a call from JCB chairman Lord Anthony Bamford. Lord Anthony stated that the company had developed the Hydromax car to set a new record for a hydrogen-powered vehicle.
The company tested the Hydromax in May, reaching a speed of 208mph during trials at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire.
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