Belgian driver breaks world blind road speed record
Saturday, 11 Oct 2008 16:59
Belgian driver breaks world blind road speed record
A high speed world record has been broken by a blind Belgian daredevil in France today.
Luc Costermans, 43, shattered the world blind road speed record in a Lamborghini Gallardo supercar at Istres, near Marseille.
Mr Costermans, who was blinded in an accident four years ago, hit 308.78km/h (192 mph) to claim the record at the Provencal airstrip.
The previous record was held by British driver Mike Newman, who hit 268km/h in a BMW M5 three years ago.
"I'm very, very happy. It's a team effort," said Mr Costermans after today's record-breaking run.
He paid tribute to his co-pilot Guillaume Roman and dedicated his record to former F1 driver Philippe Streiff, who has been a tetraplegic since suffering an accident in the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prize.
Mr Costermans' record-breaking is not his only feat of extreme bravery, having completed a tour of France in a light aeroplane in 2006.