JCB races to land speed record

The JCB Dieselmax clocked up an average speed of 328.767mph, almost 100mph faster than the previous record.

Members of the British team behind the bid witnessed the achievement which was made on the USA's salt flats yesterday. The car, designed by an entirely British team and powered by an engine made in Staffordshire, was driven by Wing Commander Andy Green.

In 1997, Wing Commander Green became the fastest man in the world when he drove ThrustSSC through the sound barrier to a speed of 763.035mph.

Sir Anthony Bamford, chairman of Rocester-based digger making giant JCB, watched yesterday's record-breaking run.

He said: "This is a marvellous achievement for JCB and a wonderful tribute to British engineering.

"I am hugely proud of everyone in the JCB Dieselmax team who have designed and built the car in less than a year and made it record breaker at the first attempt."

JCB Dieselmax was born from Sir Anthony's desire to showcase the extreme performance of the JCB444 diesel engine, which powers many of the company's ordinary diggers.

The previous diesel-powered record was set by Virgil W Snyder at Bonneville in the Thermo King Streamliner on August 25 1973, achieving 235.756 mph.

During tests, the JCB Dieselmax hit speeds of up to 330mph but there were concerns shortly before yesterday's run when it developed an oil leak after being fitted with new engines for the record attempt. Despite the problems, Wing Commander Green was confident the car would easily break the record.

He said at the time: "I'm eager to get on with it and curious to see what it can do. The car seems to be a lot faster than we were expecting."

JCB launched the distinctive yellow and black Dieselmax at its world headquarters in Rocester, near Uttoxeter, in April.

It has two turbo-charged engines and is twice as powerful and twice as fast as a Formula One car, yet weighs four times as much.

The innovative nine metre long car has been designed by a team led by JCB Group engineering director Dr Tim Leverton.

Richard Noble, the former land speed record-holder, has acted as a consultant to the project, and JCB has worked with long-term technology partner Ricardo plc to develop the JCB444-LSR engine.

Preliminary trials were held at RAF Wittering, near Peterborough.

The car had to be stripped down to be flown to the USA and then re-assembled on arrival ready for the record bid.