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The world speed record for driving blind in a car
was smashed yesterday by a bank manager who lost his sight at
the age of eight.
His specially adapted Jaguar XRJ 4.2 sports car had no one else on board as it tore past the former control tower at the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, near York. Mr Newman, who is married with two teenage chi dren, relied on steering an unwavering course with radio back-up from his stepfather, a driving instructor. The record attempt took less than five minutes, but nine months' training went into beating the 141mph record set last year by a sighted driver wearing a blindfold. Mr Newman, who is 41 and a small business specialist with Barclay's in Sale, Cheshire, said the run had been "noisy, heart-pounding ecstasy" and he was very sorry to have to hand the car back to his sponsors. The unusual speed challenge, undertaken to raise money for guide dogs - and to boost the confidence of blind people - was praised by Mr Newman's stepfather, also called Mike Newman, who followed four car lengths behind. He said: "I told him just to floor the accelerator and go for it - the most difficult bit wasn't the speed but stopping. We didn't have too much room for error and Mike had to guard against waggling the rear end. He braked it beautifully and there was hardly any movement. "He had to learn that at the sort of speeds he would be doing only the slightest tweak on the wheel could make a huge difference to the line the car was taking. He is probably the best pupil I've ever had." Mr Newman's wife, Kristen, who watched the run with their daughter, Becky, 15, son, Sam, 13, and guide dog, Ross, said: "I'm very proud of him, although I've never sat as a passenger in a car with him at any speed." Mr Newman, who was born with glaucoma, is planning
a solo motorbike circuit. It appeals to him, he said, "because
it'll involve the new challenge of going round bends". |
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