The driver of a Formula 1-style racing car that had been seen on the highway on multiple occasions since 2019 has now been taken into custody by Czech police.
Following a police report of the most recent sighting, the red racing car, fully adorned in Ferrari livery, was pursued to a property in the village of Buk, approximately 60 kilometres (37 miles) southwest of Prague.
On Sunday morning, footage of the recognisable vehicle travelling the D4 freeway and pulling over for petrol surfaced.
After momentarily refusing to exit the car, the driver, a 51-year-old man, was brought into custody and detained at his residence.
Video footage captured by local media showed him sitting in the car in front of his garage, arguing with officers and saying they were trespassing on private property.
Eventually he relented and agreed to be taken to a police station for questioning – still wearing his red racing driver’s outfit and helmet.
The gentleman racer was seen disputing with police and accusing them of trespassing on private property while seated in the automobile in front of his garage in video footage that was obtained by the local media.
He finally gave in and consented to be questioned at a police station while still sporting his red racing driver’s uniform and helmet.
When he arrived, he declined to answer any questions, according to later media sources.
A guy claiming to be his son informed local media that the residence was encircled by a helicopter and several dozen police cars, which he claimed was an excessive reaction “to a supposed traffic violation of ours.”
He stated that law enforcement “allegedly saw us towing a Formula 1 car which they claimed had been speeding along the motorway a few minutes earlier – of course we know absolutely nothing about this.”
When pictures and videos of the phantom Formula One driver on the freeway first surfaced online in 2019, police were able to communicate with him for the first time.
They located the car and spoke with its owner, who denied ever using the motorway. It’s unknown if the person the police have arrested is the same one.
Police were unable to investigate the incident further since the driver in the pictures and videos could not be identified because they were wearing a helmet.
The car has been referred to as “a Ferrari Formula 1 car” on multiple occasions.
However, the website auto.cz claims that it is actually a Dallara GP2/08, a racing vehicle built by the Italian firm Dallara for the Formula One feeder series, the GP2 Series.
Since then, the competition has changed its name to the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Regardless of its precise origin, the owner now risks a fine and the possibility of having his driver’s license revoked for operating a car on a freeway without headlights, indicators, or license plates.
Source: BBC News