JCB’s hydrogen-powered Hydromax streamliner set a new SCTA class speed record at Bonneville Salt Flats, averaging 368.347mph across two runs, driven by Andy Green OBE. The result breaks a 16-year-old record. JCB now prepares for an outright FIA world record attempt next week, targeting the engines’ full 1,600hp output.
UK-based JCB’s hydrogen-powered Hydromax streamliner has set a new speed record in the Southern California Timing Association’s (SCTA) Blown Gas Streamliner (AA/BGS, 500+ cubic inches) class at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, reaching an average speed of 368.347mph.
The record was set during the SCTA’s Bonneville Speed Week, an event that requires competitors to complete two runs on consecutive days, with the average of the maximum speeds counted as the official result. Driven by Andy Green OBE, the Hydromax recorded 367.141mph on the first run and 369.554mph on the second.
The result beats the previous SCTA record of 348.342mph, set by the Spectre Streamliner in 2010, marking the first time in 16 years that the class record has been broken.
The 32-foot-long, twin-engined Hydromax is powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines. According to Ryan Ballard, JCB Hydromax project leader, Speed Week “is one of the most iconic and respected events in world motorsport, bringing together competitors from around the globe.” The team has completed 44 runs to date as part of its test program, and the engines are now being adjusted toward their combined output of 1,600hp ahead of an attempt at an outright Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) world record next week.
Green, who holds the outright land speed record at 763.035mph and is the only person to break the sound barrier on land, said the SCTA result “has given all of us huge confidence in the car, the team and the quality of the engineering.” He added: “With our first record in the bag, we’re now turning up the power on the engines, aiming to go even faster next week.”
According to Lord Bamford, JCB chairman, the result “shows just what JCB’s hydrogen engines are capable of ahead of our outright FIA world record attempt.” He said the project “is about proving that hydrogen power can perform at the very highest level with zero emissions.”
JCB previously set the world diesel land speed record with its Dieselmax streamliner, which reached 350.092mph at Bonneville in 2006. The company also holds speed records for the world’s fastest tractor, at 135.191mph, set in 2019, and fastest backhoe loader, at 72.58mph, set in 2014.
