'It's thrilling!' GB News goes behind the scenes of JCB land speed record tests

The final preparations for a hydrogen car chasing a land speed record have taken place this week at an RAF base in Cambridgeshire.

At RAF Wittering, JCB mechanics and engineers are attempting to rewrite history with a hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engine.

The JCB HydroMax puts out a combined 1,600 horsepower from two engines, one located at the front and one at the rear of the car.

The 32-ft-long vehicle is trying to beat JCB’s existing record, which was achieved with a diesel engine back in 2006. It reached a speed of over 350mph.

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For the chairman of JCB, Lord Bamford, the new car is about pushing the boundaries of new technology.

He told GB News: “One of the main reasons for doing this is to effectively show that hydrogen can be used in machinery and can be used efficiently, and more than anything, it has no emissions.

“If emissions are something people are concerned about, hydrogen is a proper alternative.

“It's thrilling for me, it's great for our company, and it's great for the people that work at JCB.”

The car will be flown out to Utah in the United States to attempt the record on the famous Bonneville Salt Flats.

Crucial time in preparing for the trip to North America has been saved because the engines used in the car are the same that are used in JCB’s latest Hydrogen Backhoe Loader.

Each engine circulates a litre of oil a second, and a 250kg tank of ice supplies cold water to keep it running cool.

Mark Richards is the principal engineer at JCB and described what it has been like to work on the project.

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He said: “It's fantastic; we're an off-highway manufacturer in Staffordshire, and we do some wonderful things.

“Twenty years ago, we did it with diesel to demonstrate when we launched our engine how robust it was. Since then, we've done the world's fastest tractor as well.

“This for me is just like a next level up; we've just developed and put into production our hydrogen engines, and what a better way to demonstrate how robust they can be (than) by putting them to the ultimate test.

“Everything is turned up to 11; it's a showcase of British engineering, and it's a showcase for JCB.”

GB News America will follow the car to Utah for the record attempt.

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