Blind man from UK to drive car at 200 mph

In a daring act, a blind man will attempt to drive a car at a speed of 200mph. British driver Mike Newman will try to drive a car at 200 mph while getting instructions from a helicopter.

Bank manager Mike is to hurtle four miles along a beach in a 260mph supercar guided only by a radio link to his father in a helicopter.

Mike, a manager at Barclays from Sale, Manchester, hopes to clinch the world blind land speed record, which currently stands at 182mph.

The married father-of-two has headphones inside his crash helmet to receive instructions, which he says are a simple matter of ‘left a bit, right a bit’.

The record attempt will take place at Pendine Sands, in Carmarthenshire, South Wales, at 4pm.

Mike was born with severe glaucoma and has been blind since the age of 11. He previously held the record after zooming at 144.7mph in a Jaguar XJR in 2003. He also reached 178mph in a BMW M5 in 2005, and broke the world blind speed record on a motorcycle by riding at 89mph on a 1,000cc Aprilia Falco in 2000.

But he lost the driving record earlier this year when blind Turkish pop singer Metin Senturk drove a Ferrari F430 at 182mph.

"My ambition is to become the first blind unaccompanied driver to do over 200mph. It’s very exciting. You’ve got to be confident in the instructions you hear and sensitive with the wheel so you don’t overreact," The Daily Mail quoted Mike as saying.

He will be driving a British car made by sponsors Keating Supercars and will raise money for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

"To have access to a car of this calibre is a dream come true," he said.