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CIVITAVECCHIA, Italy (AP) \u2014 Along Italy\u2019s Mediterranean coast on Thursday, driver Fabio Barone raced across the flight deck of a navy ship while chasing a world record: the fastest car on a boat.<\/p>\n
Last year, Barone set the Italian Timekeepers Federation\u2019s record on another aircraft carrier in southern Italy, hitting 152 kilometers per hour (94.4 mph). In Civitavecchia, on the coast near Rome, he aimed to reach 160 kph and then hit the brakes before launching off the deck\u2019s so-called \u201cski jump\u201d and smashing into the cruise ship stationed just fore.<\/p>\n
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Race engineer Alessandro Tedino told The Associated Press that he wasn\u2019t sure the record was attainable. The ship had been out at sea overnight, and the crew emerged in the early morning to find its flight deck wet. They immediately set to drying it, with the job finished by late summer sunbeams.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it remained wet, then of course it\u2019s impossible to have the maximum speed and best brakes. It can be very, very dangerous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As the \u201cTop Gun\u201d theme song rang out from speakers, the carrier\u2019s portside elevator lifted Barone\u2019s team to the deck where journalists, naval officers and VIPs waited. A group of children with Down syndrome, chosen to serve as honorary \u201cmechanics for the day,\u201d removed the red, satiny cover to reveal Barone\u2019s steed: a red-and-black Ferrari SF90.<\/p>\n
Barone eased himself into the supercar, then drove back and forth along the length of the deck several times to warm up its V-8 turbo engine. It roared louder with each pass as he pushed its 1,085 horses harder and harder. Then he placed himself at the far end of the 236-meter (774-foot) flight deck and awaited the all-clear.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHere he goes! Here he goes!\u201d the announcer called as Barone left his mark and zipped past the crowd. Mere seconds later he came to a safe stop, and the crowd applauded haltingly \u2014 impressed by the speedy spectacle, but unsure if he\u2019d beaten the record. The official timekeeper approached the car and inspected the gauges within.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe detected velocity: 164 kilometers per hour (101 mph). I declare it the new speed record on a ship!\u201d he said, prompting hearty applause from the sidelines.<\/p>\n
Barone lifted his arms to the sky, then hugged his crew, helmet still in place. Reporters swarmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing you focus on is concentration and then you realize that you are breaking the record only when you are halfway,\u201d Barone said. \u201cI have two hands, two feet and I use them at the same time like a pianist.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Tedino said that Barone\u2019s team will now submit their certified result to Guinness World Records, which did not immediately return the AP’s email request for comment.<\/p>\n
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AP videojournalist Paolo Santalucia contributed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n