News

BREAKING NEWS!

Mike Newman and the Speed of Sight team are going to re-attempt the World Blind Land Speed Record using the Keating Super car they are in the process of looking for a new venue at the time of going to press and are confident that this time nothing will stop them on their journey to 200.

Can you help?

If you know of a big enough airfield or runway where we can re-attempt the World Blind Land Speed Record please let us know!

EL MIRAGE • Mike Newman doesn’t let obstacles squash his dreams.

He didn’t let educators force him into a school for the blind at age 11. Instead he insisted on learning alongside mainstream students where he had to work twice as hard as his peers.

His blindness didn’t stop him from hurling himself into the hair-raising world of high-speed driving, instead setting three world land-speed records at speeds up to 178 mph.

And he won’t let last week’s last-minute mechanical failure put an end to his bid to become the first blind man to exceed a land speed of 200 mph.

Newman, 48, made the nearly 6,000-mile trek to El Mirage from his home in Manchester, England, brimming with anticipation of setting a new world land speed record by an unassisted blind man and raising funds for charities devoted to blind and dyslexic children.

After days of careful preparation with his team, Newman set out to clinch the new speed title on Friday — but car troubles stymied the effort. Out of time and money for now, Newman went home disappointed — but also adamant he’ll be back to finish his mission.

To read the full story, see Tuesday's edition of the Daily Press. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call 760-241-7755 or click here