Forget the numerous acting awards and accolades. Forget that he was ranked No. 2 in People magazine's annual Sexiest Man Alive list just two short years ago.
Yes, forget it all – because Idris Elba, who plays a drug lord in HBO's The Wire, just broke an 88-year-old land speed record while piloting a Bentley.
Does it get any better than that?
Driving a Bentley Continental GT Speed on a beach in south Wales, Elba averaged 290.263 km/h (180.361 mph) over a full mile and hit a top speed of 299.98 km/h (186.4 mph) to shatter the historic "Flying Mile" U.K. land speed record set by Sir Malcolm Campbell in 1927. Macolm, driving a Napier-Campbell Blue Bird, averaged 281.3 km/h (174.8 mph) in his run.
"I'm absolutely elated to have broken the 'Flying Mile' at Pendine Sands," said Elba, who played Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. "It's an honour to have taken on the challenge, and to successfully follow in the footsteps of the illustrious Sir Malcolm Campbell."
In the "Flying Mile," a car's speed is timed between two points one mile apart from each other and the driver is allowed to get up to speed before entering the timed zone.
The Bentley Continental GT Speed features a 6-litre 12-cylinder engine producing 626 horsepower and has a top speed of 331 km/h (206 mph). It goes from 0-100 km/h in 4.2 seconds. Bentley says the vehicle Elba drove was a standard production car and was not modified for the test.
The record drive will be aired in July during the Discovery Channel's four-part series, Idris Elba: No Limits.
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