Billionaire dodges ticket after 416 km/h sprint
Billionaire Bugatti Chiron driver has made a habit of testing top speed on public roads, but his latest stunt in Germany proved his most controversial yet.
A prominent billionaire businessman will not be charged following a recent high-speed race on a German autobahn – a stretch of public road with unlimited speed – prosecutors have confirmed.
Earlier this year, Radim Passer reached 416 km/h on a leisurely 10 km stretch of motorway between Berlin and Hanover at the wheel of his Bugatti Chiron hypercar.
Mr Passer later posted footage of the daring run on Youtubewith the online community divided as to whether it was appropriate.
“Lol y’all should ignore all these haters they’re just jealous…they’ll never know this or have money like you,” one commenter said.
However, an unimpressed viewer replied, “It’s sick – as long as there are people like you, the decline of humanity is unstoppable.”
While about two-thirds of the highway has no fixed limits, driving deemed dangerous or reckless remains illegal.
After initially criticizing Passer and claiming he faced jail time, German prosecutors decided this week that he had not broken the law.
His driving was not deemed criminally risky due to the time of day (4:50 a.m.), good visibility, and the decision to use four traffic “spotters” along his route.
The Bugatti Chiron is one of the fastest production cars ever built, and its price starts at around US$3 million (AU$4.3 million).
An 8.0-liter W16 engine with four turbochargers sends 1117 kW / 1600 Nm to all wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
This completes the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in a claimed 2.4 seconds, on its way to an electronically capped top speed of 420 km/h.
Radim Passer was born in the Czech Republic in 1963 and is one of the country’s most successful real estate tycoons.
In 2017 Forbes estimated his net worth at more than 7.3 billion Kč – or AU$450,000,000 – and it is said to have increased since then.
While his recent video was the first to gain mainstream attention, Passer has already made at least four high-speed attempts on the freeway.
These were done in his own vehicles, including a Porsche 911 Turbo S, Lamborghini Aventador, Bugatti Veyron and Bentley Continental.