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You can apply to attempt to break the world record for fastest blindfolded driver [w/video]

The Guinness-certified world record for "fastest speed for a car driven blindfolded" is 186.12 miles per hour, set by Mike Newman in a Porsche GT2 last year at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in England. Then earlier this year, Newman said he'd go for the 200 mph mark - something he might want to talk to fellow Bruntingthorpe speed demons Vmax200 about. UK firm Extreme Motorsport, which seems to have been set up solely to set blindfold driving and riding records, wants to wrest the record from Newman using a Ferrari 458 Challenge and the even longer runway at Elvington Airfield in York, England.
Strangely, it appears the terms "legally blind" and "blindfolded" equate to the same thing. The Guinness record and Extreme Sports say "blindfolded," but Newman and the man who held the record before him, Turkish pop singer Metin Sentürk, are legally blind and neither of them wore blindfolds during their record attempts.
No matter - the real point is that Extreme Motorsport is casting about for a driver to set a new record. The could-be-shady part is that Extreme is pretty vague about what's involved; they'll provide the car or the motorcycle, but you have to "choose a charity and pledge to give them all the funds you raise above the entrance fee and for any other personal expenses you may need to participate in the challenge." Extreme doesn't give any indication of how much that entrance fee might be.

Ferrari gives employees record $5,600 bonus on strong year

Ferrari has got to be a great place to work. In fact, it's named as one of the best places to work in Europe year after year. Add to that the pride of making some of the coolest cars in the business, running one of the winningest teams in all of motorsports (even if the Scuderia isn't doing so well thus far this season) and all around standing for the best Italy has to offer, and you've got the makings of a dream job. And it just got a bit sweeter.
That's because Ferrari has just awarded each and every one of its employees a bonus of 4,096 euros - the most the company has ever paid. That's equivalent to over $5,600 at today's exchange rates, and represents a whopping 20 percent of the annual salary for a recently hired young employee. Following two advances of 1,000 euros each, that means employees will find an extra 2,096 euros in their pay checks this month, which may not be enough to buy a new California T or 458 Speciale, but should finance a nice shopping spree of t-shirts and paperweights at the Ferrari Store or a family vacation to Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.
The bonuses are part of a deal signed with the union in 2012, but are enabled by record profits reported by the company over the last couple of years. After 2012 emerged as Ferrari's most profitable fiscal year, it moved to reduce production, thereby increasing the value of each new car it sells to drive profits up even higher. Nice work, in short, if you can get it.

Ferrari supercar hybrid prototype chased down by fan

As discovered by Ferrari Chat and reported by Motor1, an Instagram user by the name Lambolife (@9000lambo) and a friend were out cruising in Europe when they ran across what looks like a Ferrari prototype, possibly a hybrid based on the F8 Tributo. The pair got the car on video as they were chasing it down the road and into a parking lot where the prototype driver tried to hide. Besides being amusing to watch the test driver trying desperately to keep the fans from seeing the car, we actually get a good glimpse at the vehicle. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Looking closely, the size and shape is very similar to the F8 Tributo, which is the latest evolution of the 488 GTB, and the 458 GTB before that. The shape of the rear spoiler and the edge of the front nose are particularly similar to the F8. But there are a couple differences, starting with the exhaust. On the regular car, the pipes are mounted low and set far apart. On this prototype, the pipes come out much higher up, and they're very close together. On top of that, you can just make out the triangular electrocution hazard sticker on one side of the car. This suggests it's a hybrid. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. A hybrid Ferrari similar to the F8 makes sense with other news we've heard recently. The company has confirmed it's working on hybrid drivetrains. Past reports say that one of them is a V6 hybrid with as much as 728 horsepower and 800 pound-feet of torque, and the other is a V8 hybrid with unknown performance, but most certainly greater than the V6. The first of the engines will be released in May, and since Ferrari's CEO said it will exceed the 812 Superfast, which makes 789 horsepower, that first engine will probably be the V8. This could be a prototype of Ferrari's soon-to-be-released V8 hybrid. It's also possible that this is simply a powertrain test mule, or a prototype for the V6 model coming later. At least we're half way through May, so we should have the answers to our questions very soon.