The only person to break the sound barrier in a car earned another world record yesterday in a demonstration of hydrogen power.

British driver Andy Green reached 406.320 mph (653.908 kph) in a car powered by two hydrogen internal-combustion engines with a combined 1,600 horsepower, setting a record for that vehicle category, according to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the international governing body of motor sports.

The 64-year-old retired Royal Air Force pilot rocketed across the crystalline crust of Utah’s famed Bonneville Salt Flats in a 32-foot (9.75-metre) car engineered by British construction-equipment manufacturer JCB. The engines, adapted from those used in the company’s heavy machinery, mix pressurised hydrogen gas with air and ignite it to create bursts of power.