World blind speed record attempt at 200 mph in E60 M5

beckhammania23 · 30th September 2005, 12:22

THE DATE IS SET FOR THE WORLD BLIND LAND SPEED RECORD ATTEMPT AT 200MPH

Mike Newman, the current World Blind Land Speed record holder and the Speed of Sight team have now set a date of Tuesday October 11th 2005 to break the World Blind Land Speed record. This date coincides with World Sight Day on the 13th October 2005. The Speed of Sight team will make their attempt at smashing the existing record of 144.7mph with the aim of pushing the World Blind Land Speed record above 200mph.

Using the runway at Elvington Airfield in York, Mike will be driving a BMW M5. The road-going M5 is electronically restricted to 155mph but, for the record attempt, BMW have engineered a one-off, derestricted car capable of a top speed of 205mph. Factory standard Continental Tyres ensure the M5 keeps contact with the runway at all times.

Mike’s exploits have attracted the attention of the fastest man on earth. Andy Green, driver of the Thrust SSC Team said:

"As the current World Land Speed Record holder, I understand as well as anyone the thrill, excitement and physical challenges of driving at high speed. However, the thought of doing this without being able to see where you are going is just astonishing and takes the challenge into a different league. I have followed the progress of Mike Newman and the Speed of Sight team to their current record of 144mph with fascinated interest. Now with the support of BMW and the use of a new M5, Mike has every chance of smashing this world record and achieving his ultimate ambition of driving a car at over 200mph."

The record attempt will be made possible through the sophisticated state of the art microSAT GPS systems communications equipment supplied by sponsors Scan Computers, Site Link and Datron Technologies.

Mark Hargreaves of Datron Technology said:

"We are happy to continue to support Mike, the Speed of Sight Team and VISION 2020 in their goal to generate funds and global awareness. The microSAT GPS technology and telemetry system will measure and record all the vehicle parameters such as speed, distance and time as required by Guinness World Record Books."

World Blind Land Speed Record Holder, Mike Newman said,

"Every five seconds someone in our world goes blind. Every minute a child goes blind; 80% of which is avoidable."

By attempting to reach speeds of 200mph, Mike Newman will increase awareness and much needed funds for his chosen charity VISION 2020: The Right To Sight, a member of the World Health Organisation. Their aim is to rid the world of preventable and curable blindness by the year 2020. VISION 2020, whose UK patron is HRH Sophie Wessex, are responsible for organising the worldwide awareness event, World Sight Day, which occurs two days after the record attempt, on Thursday October 13th 2005.

In August 2003, in front of a worldwide audience, Mike set the current average mile speed record of 144.7mph, by driving alone in his Jaguar XJ-R, over a measured mile. He is looking to smash this by taking the BMW M5 to speeds approaching, and hopefully in excess of, 200mph whilst alone in the vehicle and completely unable to see the road ahead.
http://www.speedofsight.co.uk

Vic · 30th September 2005, 12:27

I wish him good luck and a lot of fun doing it

Amjad Ali · 30th September 2005, 13:22

I wish him all the best. Fantastic effort and spirit.

Well done old chap!!!!

Ashok Arora · 30th September 2005, 14:44

Fantastic! Go for it & good luck

hythe · 30th September 2005, 14:45

Good luck to them, but I find it pretty hard to believe you can hit 200mph at Elvington - how long is the runway there?

200mph in an M5 would take a straight at least 3-4 miles long, I'd have thought...

bernhtp · 30th September 2005, 17:40

Not meaning to be unsympathetic, but this is one of the stupidest stunts I've heard of. I initially assumed it came from The Onion.

Tom

HomerUK · 30th September 2005, 17:49

Not sure how they would do it with a blind driver but the runway will have taxiways and various other interconnects, so it could be like a big oval track with the right configuration and 2 runways. Alot of abandoned air fields have been converted to tracks, look at where Top Gear do there testing, and these are small to medium airfields. Think how long the runways filly loaded B52's would need for take off and landing, there are a few airfields capalbe of handeling these dotted over the UK.

I wish them all the luck in the world and hope they can break the record well and truly

HomerUK · 30th September 2005, 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernhtp

Not meaning to be unsympathetic, but this is one of the stupidest stunts I've heard of. I initially assumed it came from The Onion.

Tom

I think that's the point, by being a "stupid stunt" its going to get media attention, think of how many positive things you hear about in the news on a daily basis. They are always interested in how many people are hurt or killed in an event rather than how many were saved or heroic action that saved x number of lives.

M-Fünf · 30th September 2005, 18:02

Here's Elvington from 8,000 Ft. I measured the length, and it measures out to be 1.87 miles...I don't know how accurate that is, however...

Good Luck with the run!

GuyGT2 · 1st October 2005, 00:32

I have driven at Elvington and Bruntingthorpe, which are both the same length at 10,000 feet which is 1.92miles (plus a few extra metres of non-official surface).

There is categorically no way he will get an M5 to 200mph there, 180-185mph is more realistic, as there is simply not enough distance.

I have driven my Ruf R-GT2 (Ruf tuned Porsche 996 GT2 with genuine 630PS) at full-bore for the full-length of the runway about 30 times now on several seperate days now at Bruntingthorpe (at the VMax events). My speeds are always between 195mph and 197mph, even though the car is capable of higher speeds and hits the re-limiter easily on the autobahn at it's gearing limited speed of 207mph (true top speed is circa 215mph with longer 6th gears).

My car is much much faster than a stock M5 (620bhp and 1440kg vs 500bhp and circa 1800kg). AdamT on here will also be able to add to this, as we hit the factory limiter of 164mph in his M5 on the last but one day there with plenty of space left, he reckoned it would have hit low/mid 180's in the distance available.

Just my 2p.

Guy