The ThrustSSC supersonic car team depart on Tuesday 20th for completion of their high speed development trials to 600mph on the Al Jafr desert in Jordan. On completion of the trials, the team will return to the UK to prepare for the supersonic head to head race against the Spirit of America team - scheduled to start on the Black Rock Desert in Nevada on September 2nd. The ThrustSSC team fly from Stansted on the night of the 20th, arriving at Jafr at 0500 local on the 21st. Aircraft is a HeavyLift VolgaDneper Antonov-124 - the World's largest cargo plane. Loading of the 85 tonnes of equipment including the irreplaceable 110,000 hp ThrustSSC car starts at 1500 hrs and there are media facilities available. Please contact Jamie Roach at JR PR on (44)-01753-621666 - fax-621888 as soon as possible on Monday since there are security implications.
The ThrustSSC team is proud to announce that in conjunction with sponsors Digital, Microsoft, NatWest Bank and Trintech that they are to introduce the first all electronic trading on a UK web site from the UK. This is crucially important as it enables the team to generate substantial revenue from merchandise sales off the 7.3 million hit website while the team is operational in Jordan. Web Site: http://thrustssc.digita.co.uk. Around 17% of the project gross revenue has come from merchandise sales with around 1% off the highly successful Internet site. This is no mean feat since the ThrustSSC car has taken 100,000 man hours to build. Electronic trading starts on Monday 19th.
The ThrustSSC team is also delighted to announce that all its computer hardware has now been sponsored by Digital. Previously the computer hardware had been sourced from multiple sources and was a cause of serious concern due to compatibility and maintenance.
ThrustSSC is also proud to announce another World First. Whilst operational in Jordan the team is now able to provide Radio Stations around the World with daily high quality rough cut stereo interviews. An independent reporter, Graham Swain, is now attached to the project and his daily reports will be available copyright free on .WAV format on the web site. This addresses a major concern that the project was unable to generate radio coverage due to the high cost of placing radio journalists on site. The reports are independent and are not project advertising. Web site address is http://thrustssc.digital.co.uk.
Whilst operational in Jordan there will be daily copyright free reports and photos put up on the Web Site using the project's new Fuji digital camera. The web site is linked direct to the project in Jordan using a twin channel satellite link kindly provided by sponsors Hughes Network Services. Please feel free to access the site and to use the photos and reports at any time. For further information questions and e-mail interviews, please contact the site direct on: thrust.news@battlement.digital.co.uk - we undertake to respond within 12 hours - please identify the media you write for. If you prefer, there is a phone in line with faxback facilities - please call (44)-0839-888-850 for a comprehensive service.
Whilst the runs in Jordan are unlikely to be curtailled by rain as Jordan approaches mid summer, the team are not going to find the going easy on the Jafr desert. The temperatures are hitting 35-40C local and the desert is plagued with flies and midges. Nobody ever said that the supersonic land speed record was going to be easy!
Over in Australia Rosco McGlashan is now moving his team onto Lake Gairdner for their land speed record runs. You can access their Web Site via the ThrustSSC site.
 |
 |
 |
||
| Sponsored by | This site best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 | |||
 |
 |
 |
||