Blind man goes for speed record

A British bank manager has failed in his attempt to be the first blind person to go faster than 320km/h in a Keating TKR that was said to be capable of close to 420km/h.

The record-bid car was damaged before the run so Mike Newman raced for more than six kilometres along Pendine Sands in South Wales in a replacement Nissan while being given driving instructions by radio from his father in a helicopter.

The Nissan, however, couldn’t do better than 280km/h though its handlers said it would reach at least 315.

Newman is hoping to have another go at the record, possibly within a month, when the TKR has been repaired.

The 48-year-old father of two was born with glaucoma and has been blind since he was 11. He previously held the record after hitting 230km/h in a Jaguar XJR in 2003. He also reached 286km/h in a BMW M5 in 2005 and broke the motorcycle world blind speed record on a 1000cc Aprilia Falco in 2000 at 144km/h.

The current blind car speed record is held by blind Turkish pop singer Metin Senturk who drove a Ferrari F430 at 293km/h.