The Bonneville salt flats in Utah echoed to the roar of hydrogen combustion when a British machine claimed a milestone in motorsport history. On Tuesday, JCB’s Hydromax car pushed past previous limits to establish a new land speed record, cementing a new chapter for alternative fuels in extreme speed engineering.
Engineering the JCB Hydromax for a 406 mph Record Run
While standard diesel engines in JCB machinery produce modest output, each of the two hydrogen engines powering the Hydromax underwent intensive redevelopment to deliver extreme performance on the salt.
Engineers doubled the engine speed to 3,800 rpm, swapped out pushrod valves for double overhead camshafts to achieve tighter timing control, and adopted direct fuel injection operating at significantly higher pressures than standard production models. The build also incorporated dry-sumping, weight reductions, and enhanced cooling systems. Two ice tanks were installed to drop the air temperature leaving the turbocharger from 392°F down below 50°F.
The resulting powertrain generates a combined 1,600 hp and 2,600 lb-ft of torque delivered through an all-wheel-drive system. On Tuesday, the car completed its runs, recording 400.623 mph in one direction followed by 412.135 mph in the opposite direction, creating the two-way average of 406.320 mph.
“Bonneville is the spiritual home of the world land speed record, and JCB Hydromax has just written itself into that history,” Green said. “The car was terrific—stable, strong, and fast. Setting a world land speed record with hydrogen power, twenty years after Dieselmax, is a huge privilege. This record is a huge achievement by a world-class team and superb technology.”
Andy Green, driver
Where the Hydromax Fits in Land Speed History
The new mark more than doubles the previous hydrogen combustion land speed record of 185.5 mph set by the BMW H2R in 2004 using a V12 engine. It also eclipses the fastest hydrogen fuel cell record of 303 mph set by the Venturi Buckeye Bullet 2 in 2009, as well as the electric vehicle record of 341 mph set by VBB3 in 2016. The fastest overall wheel-driven land speed record remains held by the nitromethane-fueled V8s of Challenger II, which reached 449 mph in 2018.
The vehicle was driven by Andy Green, who previously drove ThrustSSC through the sound barrier in 1997 at 763.035 mph and piloted the JCB Dieselmax to a diesel land speed record of 350 mph in 2006.
Digitizing a Century of Motorsport Archives at Valleiry
The record-breaking run coincides with a major archival project by the governing body. The FIA is digitizing more than two million documents and photographs chronicling over a century of land speed challenges. The collection, housed in Valleiry, France, represents one of the organization’s initial digitization efforts aimed at public access.
“This is the first time they’ve been available outside of the boxes that were stored in Valleiry,” said Roger Banowetz, the president of the FIA land speed records commission. “I was pushing to get the land speed record archive digitised, it’s really important to have that material available for everybody.”
The Land Speed Pioneers – Trailblazing Speed Record Breakers
Roger Banowetz, president of the FIA land speed records commission
The historical files include hand-written notes, personal letters, and official technical logs bearing the notes of participants and witnesses. These documents recall the early days of land speed competition, which began shortly after the motorcar’s invention at the close of the 19th century. Early milestones included Frenchman Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat setting a mark of 39.24 mph in a Jeantaud car in 1898, followed by Belgium’s Camille Jenatzy breaking the 100 km/h barrier in his torpedo-shaped electric car, La Jamais Contente.
Reliving the Golden Age of Salt Flats Racing
The archives capture the interwar golden era when British drivers vied for dominance on the salt flats. Kenelm Lee Guinness secured the record in a Sunbeam 350HP after World War I, paving the way for Malcolm Campbell, George Eyston, and John Cobb to push boundaries throughout the 1930s as the record climbed from 231 mph to 367 mph.
Historical records from Cobb’s Railton Special and Campbell’s 1935 Blue Bird runs highlight the hazardous conditions drivers faced.
“Suddenly a film of oil started to cover the windscreen and deadly fumes from the engine commenced to enter the cockpit and I realised that at any moment I might fade out,” he said. “However, we were fast approaching the end of the mile when there was a terrific explosion. The near-side front tyre had burst. By now the screen was opaque. I had a feeling as though dozens of nails were being driven through the top of my head, this being caused through inhaling the exhaust fumes, and in consequence regaining full control of the car was not very easy.”
Malcolm Campbell, record holder
British driver sets new land speed record for hydrogen-powered car
