September 27, 2007 The road is not a racetrack - but if it was, Britain would have a new national champion. Londoner Tim Brady is now serving a 10-week jail sentence after being clocked at a record 172mph (277 kmh) in a Porsche (not pictured) he borrowed from his employer – that’s 16mph faster than the previous four-wheeled record holder.
Brady, who worked at a luxury car hire company, had repeatedly been refused permission to borrow the £98,000, 3.6-litre Porsche 911 Turbo, but pinched the keys on his day off and took a colleague along for a day of high-speed shenanigans that would land him in jail.
Approaching the car’s top speed, he passed a policeman who was already booking another driver for doing 115mph, and was clocked on the spot. It took Brady over 700 metres to bring the car to a stop. At that speed, an expert driver under optimal conditions might be able to stop the car in around 500 metres.
Judge David Morton Jack was particularly unimpressed by Brady’s choice of road – “Aggravating the crime were the facts that the dual carriageway had a number of crossing points for cars and pedestrians,” he said as he laid down Brady’s 10-week sentence and relieved him of his license.
Britain’s motorcyclists still have bragging rights for the top outright speed ticket, with 37-year-old Honda Fireblade owner Daniel Nicks registering 175mph (282kmh) in 2000. Both are well behind American Honda RC51 superbike owner Samuel Armstrong Tilley who holds the world speeding ticket record at 205mph (nearly 330km/h) – although this speed was clocked by stopwatch and not by radar.