Incredible! Must see - Blind man drives at 200mph!!

Hein Wagner has just become the first blind man in the world to drive a car at over 200mph, recorded and verified by a Video VBOX provided by Racelogic distributor Jacques Shepperson at ACCSA.

Ever since he was a child Wagner wanted to drive fast cars, considering his lack of sight as just another obstacle that could be overcome. Having broken the record in 2005, reaching a speed of 269.2km/h (167mph), this was then overtaken by records in England and Belgium, bringing the benchmark up to 308 kph. However, Hein and his navigator Ray Wakefield say that they werent too unhappy about this as it meant they could have another go.

Fast forward to early morning on 24th September 2009, and Hein is sitting with the engine running in a Mercedes SL AMG 65 Black series at the start of the Uptington strip runway in northern South Africa. At 5km its an alternative landing strip for the NASA shuttle and the longest in the southern hemisphere: as the recorded speed is measured as an average over 1km, they need as much room as possible. A flock of large birds have been chased from the tarmac (hitting one at 300kph would cause it to go straight through the windscreen and out the back not great news, especially when a blind man is driving), and conditions are optimal for the V12 Bi-Turbo engine to propel Wagner and his navigator Ray Wakefield to a new record.

Lolly Jackson, the owner of the controversial Teazers strip club in Johannesburg, is looking worried. Its the first time hes let a blind man drive one of his twenty supercars, which he had lent for the attempt in support of Hein Wagners charity, the Vision trust, which helps to integrate blind people into society through the use of new technology.

However, his car is in fairly safe hands, as Wagner and Wakefield have a clever system of numbers to ensure that the car keeps a straight course, where 5 is dead centre. If Hein veers to the left, Ray calls the numbers below 5, and if he veers to the right he calls the numbers above 5.

Hein and Rays final run brought them to an average speed of 322.52 kph (200.4mph) over the flying kilometre - a phenomenal feat of courage and skill. For now, Hein Wagners place in the record books is secure.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• blind
• land
• speed
• record
• video
• vbox
• south
• africa
• airstrip
• mercedes
• sl
• 65
• amg
• black
• v12
• bi
• turbo
• hein
• wagner
• ray
• wakefield
• racelogic
• in
• car

[mmsk8erboi]

I think the guys trying to convince himself he's fine, not telling the blind guy!

[RacelogicVideoVBOX]

He's actually saying: "Five Five Five Five Five..." - where 5 is dead straight, numbers 1-4 are left, and numbers 6-10 are right. But I guess that is synonymous with "fine"!

[333Maguire]

holy shit!

[limey163]

This is cool, but a huge part of going that fast is to visually experience it. Another is to feel the adrenaline, which I am sure he felt. Kudos to him.

[SC07GTR]

An amazing achievment! Fantastic levels of trust on both parts. A very well deserved record I hope it stands for a long time!!

[pornoproductions96]

ohhh

[PancakePal28]

That was 322 kmh.

[pornoproductions96]

322 mph

[bobbob3002]

fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine