I remember going back to the Isle of Wight just after we had regained the World Land Speed Record for Britain - the euphoria was over and John Ackroyd who had single-mindedly managed the design and build of Thrust 2 was understandably sanguine: 'I'm NEVER going through that again - that's for certain!'

On reflection, I know exactly how he felt - the constant strain, and the planning constantly dependant on so many uncertainties can really get to you. It's always a problem looking forward - you can only really plan if you have plenty of money. But by contrast in this business if you have plenty of money then you are not building fast enough! So the deduction is that if you are driving the project as hard as it will go, then planning is always going to be an enormous problem! If planning isn't a huge problem, you are not trying hard enough!

We have come a very long way in a very short time. In June 1994 we had the ThrustSSC design and Ron's research, but no money. Thrust SSC is twice the size of Thrust 2 which means 8 times the volume to be built in just 21 months. No wonder Ron Dennis of McLaren bet me £1000 that we would never make a record attempt this year!

Today we have the most powerful land speed record car - ever - nearly complete, with only another 2,000 or so man hours to roll-out. There are 143 companies on the programme and if each has put in around 200 man hours then we are into a 50,000 man hour project - that's 25 man years in 19 months.

What can get to you is the sheer frailty of the project - it depends on so many factors and so many people - and it can stop at any time! If it stops the chances are you have lost the project because people have to leave and with them goes essential understanding of the design.

There are many points at which the project could have stopped. If Brian Ridgewell of Castrol had not committed to the R&D programme it would never have started. If the City of Coventry had not committed to the suspension build, we could never have afforded it. If Dunlop had not taken the plunge over the wheels and brakes - the SSC would by now have little credibility. If Norman Kench and Dave Houghton of Survirn not committed to the composite pattern manufacture or Lotus to the active ride controllers we would be a year behind.

Curiously as the build nears completion there should be an enormous feeling of achievement. But it's not like that, it's just a team doggedly pushing on from objective to objective. Not counting the G Force team, there are now 18 of us all pushing hard - all knowing that one small slip could bring the project to a grinding halt.

Interestingly as the project starts into the last chapter of build, it all becomes immensely complicated - the sponsors smell success and every little contractual detail suddenly matters - and what's more it probably conflicts directly with someone else's contract! We take enormous pains to ensure that the contracts are clearly written and understood, but there is no limit to human imagination!!

At the back of all of our minds is this frailty of the project - if the BLM in Nevada had not agreed to go ahead with the permits (due to be issued next month) there would be no race and no more sponsor funding. What if Craig Breedlove had decided to not to run with us! Suppose HeavyLift decided to charge us full rate for the Antonov? Suppose Jerry Bliss had decided to stay with Ford, or the G Force Board had had enough of the constant worry of this huge beast in their workshops and asked us to go elsewhere.

Prince Michael of Kent came to visit us the other day. His letter says it all:

'The atmosphere was electric. You have captured the imagination of every schoolboy in the land (including me). It was an absorbing experience to talk to you and the team and you all put over an amazing amount of information in such a short time. Your combined knowledge and expertise is extremely impressive.

'With my thanks again, and wishing you and all your people the very best of success. You have the backing of Britain behind you.'

Well, so much for the retrospective - lets look forward. To finish the build, we now have expand the build programme yet again and pull in a new cash sponsor every week! If you look around you will see that not much is sponsored these days - so the marketing has to hold up strongly - it's not every company that wants to commit cash to what they see as a high risk project. Interestingly enough, the cash deals are going at a tremendous pace now and I really think we are going to be able to keep up that almost unbelievable pace.

We have to roll-out Thrust SSC as soon as we can and then start the UK trials. The airfield site has been organised and very soon we hope to announce the arrangement. Then we have to get desert experience - we have a desert organised so we have to get there as soon as we can and develop the SSC, Andy and the Team to a high level of speed and proficiency before we come back to the UK and then depart for the US in August.

All the time we are up against the remorseless competition. Breedlove is now well funded by Shell and we call each other once a week. By contrast all seems to be relaxed over there, whilst here we are always fighting seemingly impossible battles for the next deal! Last night (March 7th) they were getting ready to paint. Their high speed trials will take place at Edwards AFB which is conveniant few hours on the freeway. Our site is on another continent!

You may have noticed that there has not been much Thrust SSC publicity of late. Well, we decided that the story is just so fantastic that we ought to save it up for the launch, so we have asked everyone to respect our need to concentrate everything on the battle to complete. It seems to be working well, but every now and then we get uncovered!

A key element of the project is the Mach 1 Club - the enthusiasm is quite something and for instance at the end of February we anounced the cowling signature scheme. Here the members can sign their names on the inside of the engine cowlings for £25. We were taken back by the response - in 3 days we had £6,000 of orders and I was left wondering whether we have enough engine cowlings to go round.

So I suspect you are getting the message - there's still a long way to go to finish but the whole project is coming alive in a very big way - and we are damned well going to get there!!

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