A former Dunedin man is expected to be named today as the driver of a New Zealand-led attempt at the world land speed record.
Wellington entrepreneur Richard Nowland's Jetblack model concept car is being launched at the Cloud on Queen's Wharf in Auckland this afternoon.
Until then the details of the attempt and the car are under wraps and Mr Nowland, the project's director and founder, last night declined to comment on the Dunedin link until after the launch.
However, the Otago Daily Times understands the driver is Steve Hunt, a former Otago Boys' High School pupil.
Last year, Wing Commander Hunt was involved in the first Royal New Zealand Air Force Boeing 757 trial flight to the Antarctic.
Mr Nowland said the full-scale model car was being launched in an effort to get the public enthusiastic about New Zealand's first attempt at the record.
The record is held by Briton Andy Green, driving the Thrust SSC, with a speed of 763mph (1227.99kmh), set in October 1997 at Black Rock Desert, Nevada, in the United States.
It was the first supersonic land speed record.
It had taken three years to get the Jetblack project to the launch stage and 18 months for Mr Nowland to build the car in in Wellington.
During that period, Mr Nowland said he had recruited a "fantastic" group of people to make the attempt a reality.
It involved solving some "extraordinarily difficult" engineering problems which were unique to the challenge and would take "some of the greatest engineering minds to figure out".
"The team that have got involved are more than capable of shooting for the big prize."
