I can just see the financial analysts poring over our accounts and frowning. 'Surely it would have been financially better to have gone for one record attempt in the US, and not stretched everything and everyone by going to Jordan first? Surely there would have been enough time in the US to develop the SSC from 300mph - without pitching everyone and all our hard earned money into 120 degrees of desert heat in a desperate attempt to pull ahead?'

The British have always been rather good at justifying the easy option. This project has never been about justifying the easy option - this is about taking the hard decisions that lead to a major win.

Looking back over May, it's quite difficult to remember what actually happened. The whole period has been a very long month of endless graft and high pressure crises. Certainly we were hoping to fly to Jordan on the 3rd May - but by that time we had a steering problem which meant further delays until we got the car right. We had hoped to leave on the 21st or 22nd but that meant flying the Antonov to a military airfield 200 km away from Jafr and then spending $3000 trucking everything south. Why $3000? Well we still didn't have any trucks - the deal with Scania had served their purpose and the trucks had been taken back. Try as I might I couldn't get a truck sponsorship. Something cataclysmic had evidently happened to the European truck market and whilst everyone seemed very interested, the deals were just not happening. In some ways we had good reason for thanking Heavylift for delaying the aircraft until the 27th - it meant that the Jafr runway which had just been resurfaced at huge expense now became available once more and it gave us a few more days to find the trucks.

A very promising deal was now materialising: a series of meetings were held and there was much encouraging conversation. I made the mistake of allowing us to think the deal was just days away. Wrong! At the last possible moment on Friday the message came through that the deal had fallen and we were still without trucks, and since little could be expected to happen over the weekend, the first calls on Monday 23rd would have to go like this: 'Hello,I am from the Thrust Super Sonic Car Project. We need to borrow a truck for 4 to 5 weeks, we havn't any money, we are going to fly it to the Middle East where if things go wrong it might cost you a fortune to repossess it. You are going to get huge publicity - and we need it tonight!'

Amazingly two truck hire companies indicated they wanted to go for it and CRR were first off the blocks with a brand new MAN 18.403. It was on the road for the first time that night - with special logos biked all the way from Manchester 200 miles away. Brian Palmer who had been very concerned at our abject failure to deliver, was now all grins - and at long last we were mobile. Jeremy Davey put aside his computers and drove back and forth all night in the move from Farnborough to Stansted Airport.

Computers were a huge problem. Our sponsor ICL had incurred huge costs in corporate restructuring in the first quarter of 1997, and having first verbally confirmed our 1997 sponsorship promptly swung in with the bad news. Not only were they not going to continue, but also they wanted all their equipment back - immediately! Fortunately we were able to negotiate a gradual reduction. Probably the most bitter pill was the fact that the ICL team who had fought so hard for the Thrust sponsorship in the first place were now ordered in to dismantle the relationship. Even more painful at the time were rumours that despite the cutbacks ICL was prepared to finance a less-than-frontline Formula 1 team for ten times the money we were asking for our product which would deliver a far better return than the conventional racing. An earlier computer sponsor who had supported the ThrustSSC project right from the start and on whose product ThrustSSC had been largely designed simply showed no interest in continuing. It seemed to me that the market place had changed - the big brands were no longer interested in promoting computer hardware which sold with small margins - they had refocussed on the Internet and the higher margin Web Servers. And our Web Servers were already supplied by Digital who had supported us right from the start with the powerful Alpha 64 bit servers. We suddenly realised the value of what we had, when one well known brand offered to buy the rights to our Web Site. Robin Richardson, the Mach 1 Club founder and a senior executive in Digital, made a number of fast tactical moves which would have delighted Kasparov - and suddenly the grand total of some 14 Digital units were made available on loan to the project - for the first time in the projects history we had a comprehensive computer hardware sponsor.

More trouble arose with the ThrustSSC Global radio. We were very aware that we were losing out on radio coverage - it's very valuable because of its ability to broadcast news faster than any other media. To date such radio coverage as we have got tended to be superficial: 'How fast will it go Mister? Someone's going to get killed in a thing like that' - all of which bore no relationship at all to the hard painstaking graft and careful planning and management that goes into the project. A great friend of mine suggested the way forward would be to place an independent journalist on site, who would submit partially edited reports and send then back to a distribution point via the Hughes satellite link - and he volunteered his very experienced services. As usual Jeremy Davey was on the ball: 'Why not distribute the reports via the Internet?' and then suddenly the whole radio potential became global - any radio station anywhere could pull down the reports and use them. Sadly the conversations with my experienced friend became fewer and more strained and it was clear that the deal not going to fly. The only other radio journalist I knew was Graham Swain, a Mach 1 Club member. I phoned him out of the blue with three days to go and explained the proposition. He phoned back four hours later: 'I'm coming,' he said, 'and I've found two companies, FX Rentals and Protape who will supply the kit and tapes'! As I write this Graham is into his fourth report and the quality is improving as we all get to grip with what is a totally new subject. And what is happening is that with Graham's effort the whole scale and detail of the project is now becoming clear in great and very clear detail.

There was another huge problem. Royal Jordanian Airlines had helped us with the fuel for the Antonov last year and had helped us get the main part of the team back to UK when Jafr flooded. Sadly because of the problems in sorting out ThrustSSC, and then the flooding, they had not been able to have their Press Day - so their return had not been what we had hoped for. At the time we genuinely believed we could achieve a World record on Jafr, but after the runs, Ron's data suggested we would need more overrun distance. Andrew Noble negotiated the deal with Royal Jordanian who generously agreed to come in with the fuel for the Antonov yet again, knowing that the World Record on Jafr was unlikely. What wonderful people!

Back at the hanger the work was proceeding smoothly - we still had doubts over the rear suspension which would have to be proven in anger at Jafr. Some felt that the suspension might well let us down and cost us the project - certainly there was still doubt about what has been seen as the weakest part of the design.

So now we loaded the Antonov, piled into the small rear cabin behind the wings, slept well for the first time in a long time - and flew to Jafr. Well, not before I had something of a shock - the team seemed to have changed identities - their new close desert hair cuts making them look like Buddhist Monks in jeans.

'You're next Richard!' Not bloody likely - its thinning out so fast I don't want to shock load it!

There was a high level of confidence in the team - a feeling that the winters rebuild had been a job well done and that the car would perform well. I explained that we have taken a difficult path - if we were to come back from Jordan with a less than adequate performance, then the effort needed to raise money for the US campaign might be beyond us. In which case there was no obvious way forward for this organisation. We therefore have to come back with a good performance. Even with a good result, it leaves us with just five or six weeks in which to make a prodigious amount of money from scratch.

Once at Jafr, the teamwork was outstanding. A huge amount of preliminary work had been done by Andrew Noble and the advance party which included the three Mach 1 team members and Mike and Ninetta Hearn - and of course Dee Campbell-Coombe. This included all the track surveying, the preliminary track fodding and the cleaning of the four houses we rent on the Al Jafr base. This time we were not the only visitors, as an entire detachment of US Marines were on site complete with their Harriers, C-130's and helicopters. This was going to be interesting…

Within 6 hours the Antonov had been unpacked and the next day the AireShelta 60ft inflatable hanger was up and the Pits Station in place just 100ft from where we were last year. The sheer speed and efficiency of the operation surprised even the Marines: 'Hell, that's a pretty slick operation.'

There had been all kinds of problems importing the 6 Land Rover Discoverys which arrived at Aqaba on the 3rd May and were stuck in customs for three weeks. Land-Rover had sent 4 of the TDis and 2 of the V8s and were understandably reluctant to consign them to anyone other than Thrust. Since Thrust was not a recognised legal entity in Jordan the Customs were reluctant to let them in. Soon even our friends the Royal Jordanian Air Force had been drawn into the confusion and we were beginning to look incompetent, but within a day or so of arrival Andrew Noble and the British Embassy had the Discoverys out and on the base.

Within two days the Internet was set up and operational including not one but three cameras showing the Aireshelta, outside and inside the Pits Trailer. An important point here was the use of a sock. This meant that the overnight team could avoid giving the World a less than professional striptease by putting the sock over the Pit Trailer interior camera.

Run 25 was made on the 6th of May, and was just a proving run to 100mph - and we were in for a shock. The car carries 5 video cameras and those on the rear wheels showed shock steering deflections just the same as before. The wheel shimmy had gone, but the problems were apparently still with us - had we achieved nothing over the past very painful and stressful five months? Jeremy Bliss saw the light. He had fitted rack positioned LVDTs to the rear wheel steering and the data showed no violent movement. Due to the camera angles the travel of the rear wheels as they ran over the surface tended to show the wheels travelling upwards and outwards, as the suspension travelled its geometry. A few workshop tests showed that wheels were not shock steering, but there was new play in the system - after just one 100mph run.

The Design Team decided to fit steering dampers and these were quickly assembled by Nick and his workshop team. Then we repeated Run 25.

Andy's run report on Run 26th states: 'The steering response felt generally good. Again the steering felt less precise than on the runway but it was relatively easy to maintain directional control of the car.'

On the 30th we were off for runs 27 and 28 - 200 and 300mph - which were achieved very neatly. The whole operational organisation running incredibly smoothly. The Design Team were happy and authorised runs 29 and 30 which would give us maximum burner and 400mph indicated. The 400 indicated is actually the airspeed (we work to airspeed which is the speed of airflow the car feels - this has to be corrected for altitude). So 400mph IAS actually means 440mph ground speed). The two runs were achieved very easily and its worth listening to the cockpit recording on Graham Swain's Global Radio - 200-250-300mph come up at an impressive rate as the big car at long last finds its stride.

So there is to be a break for a few days and we run again on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - that's if we don't break something.

The effect on the team was quite something. For years we have been putting in appalling hours convinced we can do this. Last year was a huge set back - but now the whole machinery is running well and there are broad smiles around. I am a hard bitten LSR addict - but like the rest of the team I know that something mighty is about to happen.

Andy's driving is very impressive. In 1983, I used to settle in the cockpit, fire up Thrust2 and settle back for one hell of a ride. Andy is completely and utterly different - he treats the cockpit as if it is his office. He is driving and working - 'Sorry about the slight drift to the right there, Richard, I was trying to shut down this and activate that and the red light kept winking at me, oh and we also had an FPress and WLock captions.' When we go through a debrief every aspect of the drive is gone through. Every aspect is checked with video and data and rechecked until it is thoroughly understood. While two six hundred mph drives used to exhaust me, Andy I am quite sure will be getting another head of steam and be redesigning the cockpit between runs. Car and driver seem well matched although he still doesn't like the rear wheel steering!

So this week, we are set for 500 and 550 - and then the magic 600mph. After that none of us is quite sure. Jafr is short, we could never repair the car before Black Rock if it were to get damaged now, the temperatures are now so hot that we cannot run the car after 0930 - and we need to get back to UK raise the US funding. But here nothing is predictable - and a spell of high confidence may well precede more engineering difficulty.

Oh and one more fact. I am holding in my hand a fax from Utah. The Spirit of America team has signed the heads of agreement - it's really going to happen! And we're really ready for it! Over in UK the media is warming up - interestingly it's not so much the conservative Nationals but the local papers where traditionally our support has always been - they know that this is going to happen - and in the Western Mail for instance there is a huge colour spread on Glynne Bowsher - who is as you might guess is a very persistent Welshman! He is wearing Arab head dress but somehow looks out of place on a Camel!

Another huge achievement during May was the introduction of electronic trading on the Internet. The Swedes were first to achieve this in Europe - but no one had done it in UK. We need it to help with the merchandise sales effort which together with the Mach 1 Club accounts for nearly 20% of our revenue. Huge efforts had been put in by Jeremy Davey, and the teams from Trintech, and NatWest who had achieved what the bank had said couldn't be done in under four weeks. 'Let's just do it' said Jeremy Davey and somehow it was achieved getting huge publicity in the Times - but the picture shows Noble and two sponsors - and no reference to the people who worked so hard to pull it off! How do you explain and remedy that?

One of the great unsung heroes in this team is Robert Atkinson. Robert is one of those people without whom this project is totally impossible. He is one of the hardest working and cheeriest people its been my privilege to meet - nothing electronic phases him. When he lost the tip of his finger in an accident which nearly launched his huge pneumatic aerial mast into geostationary orbit, Robert could be seen cracking jokes with a finger that must have hurt like hell. The Jordanians took one look, grabbed a Huey helicopter and flew him to Amman for surgery, which our good friends BUPA looked after. I am not quite sure how Robert joined the project - probably via his old employees Marilake Instruments. So you've got a problem with your electronic whatsit? Call in Robert - he'll take it all apart, redesign it, rechip it and have it back in business by this afternoon. Without Robert this project isn't going much further.

So now we are entering the last phase of Jordan 97. The media are beginning to turn up - typically flying in to Amman and taking a 200km cab drive to Jafr. You can tell what's going on simply by looking at the desert car park - full of shiny city limos with drivers half dead after three hours of speeding and 30 minutes of unfamiliar desert driving.

Today we are set to repeat the 500 mph run due to instrumentation problems - on the last run the long pitot tube on the nose (it measures dynamic pressure for the air speed indicator) fell off under extreme deceleration. You see what we seem to have built is the world's fastest and largest overland vehicle. Initially, I was concerned that at 500mph the very slight bumps at the South end would send the car flying in the air. But Thrust SSC is something quite new in LSR racing. The car skims across the surface and the amazing Citroen-like suspension eating up the bumps. Drive back along the tracks and you will find around 20 places where some or all of the wheels left the ground. Andy seems quite happy - the download is steady and while ThrustSSC heaves a bit, it does not pitch - which is of course the dangerous bit.

As you know by now, ThrustSSC is a large car and it soaks up man hours - the very size of the car dictates the size of the project. We have now achieved a level of performance where we are able to make two runs per day every day - and the workload is nothing short of incredible. We start with breakfast at 4am and aim to achieve roll-out by 6am. Due to the rapid increase in desert temperature (we are limited to 25C+ when the computers switch off) we need to have completed two runs by 0930. So by 10am ThrustSSC is back in its AireShelta and the work continues for preparation for the next days runs. On top of that is the ever present fodding. As ThrustSSC reaches higher speeds, so it needs more track for acceleration and stopping. The fodding team which includes everyone we can press gang into service obviously cannot operate in the cool of the day, which is ThrustSSC time. So the fodders under the control of the ever enthusiastic Mike Hearn have to go out as the temperature climbs into the 40's. Not only that but they have to cover huge distances like 8 miles in a day to keep pace with the track demands of ThrustSSC. Today we have reached a point where we have run out of spare track and what gets fodded today is consumed by TSSC tomorrow. Maximum effort is required - and how long can you ask people to rise at 3am and work through to 11pm in the middle of one of the world's hottest deserts?

This is absolutely a new dimension in record breaking - this is about winning - and very soon we are going to make a tremendous breathrough!

Never, ever, listen to the accountants!

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