An amateur racing driver who tried to convince a court that a jammed accelerator pedal compelled him to hit 127mph on the motorway has been banned from driving.
Company director Richard Billings was clocked at the huge speed while piloting his Ford GT supercar - an update to the fabled GT40 Le Mans racer of the sixties - on the M90 between Perth and Inverkeithing in September 2008.
Claiming that the pedal became stuck at precisely the moment he drove past police, Billings told Perth Sheriff Court that it was only his skill in handling cars that prevented a tragic outcome, Scotland's Daily Record reports.
According to the 46-year-old, he was doing a mere 65mph when disaster struck, causing him to almost double his speed.
However, he was apparently able to pull over and give police a tour of his car once they eventually caught up with him.
Officers told the court that the driver was clearly proud of his wheels, and that he may have been showing off to them - something Billings denied.
"I cannot see in my own mind what I have done wrong," he told the court.
"Most people, with no experience, would have crashed."
Billings, who said he was "running-in" the car, admitted it had been fitted with a £14,000 supercharger and was slated to be used as a support vehicle for a speed record attempt in the US.
He denied dangerous driving.
Unfortunately, his version of events did not fly with Sheriff Michael Fletcher, who banned Billings from driving for a year - also fining him £1,000 and ordering him to re-sit his test.
