Billy Baxter (motorcyclist) on:
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Billy Baxter, born , served with the
1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the armoured field artillery role, and is equipped with the AS90 self-propelled gun. The regiment is currently based at La ...
in
Bosnia. Whilst serving in 1997, he lost his sight after contracting a rare disease which destroyed both of his optic nerves.
On 2 August 2003, he set the blind solo world land speed record on a motorbike with a speed of 164.87mph (265.33km/h). On 17 August 2013 Baxter lost his record to Stuart Gunn of Edinburgh, who managed a speed of 167.1 mph (268.92 km/h) at
Elvington air strip.
In 2004, he was a guest on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television programme ''
Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
'' and drove a lap of their circuit as the "
Star in a Reasonably Priced Car", credited as the "Blind Man". He was guided around the circuit by the host,
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes '' Top Gear'' and '' The Grand Tour'' alongside R ...
, and his official lap time was 2:02 minutes, which is faster than two of the fully sighted contestants (
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 week ...
and
Richard Whiteley
John Richard Whiteley (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005) was an English presenter, and journalist, best known for his twenty-three years as host of the game show ''Countdown''. ''Countdown'' was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:4 ...
). Ex-Stig
Ben Collins however stated in his autobiography that during practice sessions Baxter completed the lap in a time of 1 minute and 58 seconds.
For the past few years, Baxter has been involved with various blind charities as a public speaker, educating groups of all ages about being blind as well as discussing his life experiences so far. He is currently enjoying life with full intensity, taking part in motorcycle riding, PSHE, learning to ski, and is now enjoying amateur dramatics.
In 2007 he completed a Blind Solo Lap of
Donington Park. "My biggest challenge yet, I rode my
Ducati Monster
The Ducati Monster (called in Italian) is a standard, or naked bike, motorcycle designed by Miguel Angel Galluzzi and produced by Ducati in Bologna, Italy, since 1993. In 2005, Monster sales accounted for over half of Ducati's worldwide sales. L ...
around the hallowed circuit of Donington, the home of motorcycle racing, raising awareness for Vista, a charity helping blind people in the
Midlands, an amazing experience and great fun."
Baxter was appointed the official Town Crier of
Llandudno, North Wales by Llandudno Town Council in 2014.
References
External links
Blind Veterans UK– Blind ex-service men and women
– An audio self-discussion with Baxter.
Action For Blind PeopleVista
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Billy
Living people
1960s births
Year of birth uncertain
Royal Horse Artillery soldiers
British blind people
British motorsport people
20th-century British people