Police arrest man driving formula-style car on D4 in Czech Republic

Police in the Czech Republic have arrested a 51-year-old man after spotting him driving a formula-style racing car on a public motorway, bringing to an end a years-long run of viral sightings. Officers stopped the vehicle on Sunday morning in the village of Buk, southwest of Prague, after motorists reported a single-seater speeding on the D4 motorway, police said.

"Thanks to reports from drivers, we stopped a formula car driver this morning in the village of Buk who had been speeding along the D4 motorway," the Czech police wrote on their official X account. Officers identified the man at the scene, took him to the district police station for questioning, and said he refused to cooperate and would not comment. The police said the matter will be forwarded to administrative proceedings, and the driver faces a fine of several thousand crowns and a likely driving ban.

The car is not a Ferrari Formula 1 machine as many videos suggested, but a Dallara GP208 chassis, the model used in the GP2 championship between 2008 and 2010. In original specification the GP208 was powered by a Mecachrome four-litre V8 engine producing in excess of 600 brake horsepower. The vehicle recovered on...