Idris Elba broke an 88-year-old UK land-speed record in a Bentley Continental GT Speed, blowing away the historic “Flying Mile” record when he hit 180.361 mph.
The previous record was set in 1927 by Sir Malcolm Campbell, also driving a Bentley, and it’s become a
“historical high-water mark,” according to MotorAuthority.
Now Elba owns it, and that’s no surprise to the actor’s fans. Some even wondered why he isn’t up for consideration to play the next James Bond (though he is in talks for “Star Trek 3”).
“The run was made on the beach of Pendine Sands, Wales,” MotorAuthority said. “It was filmed as part of a Discovery Channel miniseries entitled ‘Idris Elba: No Limits.’ It will air in July.”
“In the ‘flying mile,’ a car's speed is timed between two points one mile apart from each other. Rather than starting from a dead stop, the driver is allowed to get
up to speed before entering the timed zone,” CNN Money explained. “The test is run twice within an hour, once each in opposite directions.”
Elba got up to 186.4 mph during the run, CNN said.
The “Mandela” and “The Wire” actor tweeted about the drive as he got ready to take off:
In a press release, Bentley said Elba managed to break the record despite some challenging tidal conditions on the beach.
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