Eleven time Formula 1 Race winner David Coulthard, thrill-seeker Felix Baumgartner and Paris-Dakar Champion Marc Coma are amongst those driving the 35 Catcher Car drivers as they aim to catch tens of thousands of runners in the second Wings for Life World Run on 3 May 2015.
60,000 competitors have already signed up for the worldwide event, with the likes of current Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo, Porsche World Endurance Championship driver Mark Webber, German Marathon champion Sabrina Mockenhaupt and French World Cup downhill skier Luc Alphand amongst those aiming to stay ahead of the drivers.
David Coulthard will be in one of the Catcher Cars (Credit: Urner for Wings for Life World Run)
The principal of the event is the runners will be given a half hour head-start on the Catcher Cars, with the car then driving at 15km/hr for the first hour, before increasing to 16km/hr for the second hour and 17km/hr for the third. Should their still be runners to catch, the pace will increase to 20km/hr for the fourth hour, and then 35km/hr for the fifth.
Once the runner is caught, their race is over, with Ethiopian Lemawork Ketema running an astonishing 78 kilometres in 2014, running for over five hours before he was finally caught by rally driver Franz Wittmann.
“By the time we caught up with Lemawork, we were joking about finding a gas station if this guy keeps on running,” said Wittmann last year.
Other drivers signed up to the event include Red Bull Junior driver Pierre Gasly, skiing stars Bruno Kernan and Jon Olsson and Irish Rugby Union star Simon Zebo, with Coulthard seeing the irony of having to maintain a steady pace during the event after racing at top speed during his Formula 1 career.
“I love the irony of it,” said Coulthard. “I spent my life putting the pedal to the metal, and here I am at Silverstone driving at a dizzying 15 km/h. But the best part about my race day is that I know I will eventually overtake my former team mate Mark Webber, who is running at Silverstone.”
For more information, visit www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com.
