Enthusiast’s Worst Nightmare: Journalist Blows Engine in Borrowed 917

As an auto journalist, there are times when you’re trusted with extremely rare and incredibly expensive pieces of machinery. The last thing you want to do is break it. Unfortunately for Mike Hales, he’s living our worst nightmare.

Hales blew up the engine of ex-formula one driver David Piper’s Porsche 917. Apparently he was racing against Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason’s Ferrari on a test track. Up to this point, this sounds pretty awesome. According to Hale, however, the car jumped out of gear as he was shifting from second to third. He over revved the engine and… Boom.

In court, Hales said that he and Piper agreed that mechanical damage should be covered by the owner. Piper, however, denied that deal ever happened. The court sided with Piper, and Mr. Hales is stuck with a bill of $175,657. Not an easy number to swallow for an auto journalist.

Moral of the story? If you’re going to drive some dude’s impossibly expensive Porsche/Ferrari/anything… Get their permission in writing.

via [9Magazine]