An epic world record to the music of Top Gun: This is the fastest car on a boat

History was made last week when Italian driver Fabio Barone set a new world record for fastest car on boat. He was attempting to beat his own best speed of 94.4 mph, the Italian Timekeepers Federation’s record, which he set last year on another aircraft carrier.

He had set a goal of reaching 99.4 mph but ended up surpassing that hitting 101.9 mph before he had to slam on the brakes to avoid going airborne off the ski jump at the end of the runway on the Nave Trieste aircraft carrier.

Wet deck almost doomed the record-breaking attempt

Barone‘s daring feat almost didn’t take place on Thursday last week. The Nave Trieste had been out to sea during the night and in the morning the crew found that the deck had gotten wet.

However, through their efforts along with the help of the summer sun they managed to get it dry in time. “If it remained wet, then of course it’s impossible to have the maximum speed and best brakes,” explained race engineer Alessandro Tedino speaking to the Associated Press, adding, “It can be very, very dangerous.”

‘Top Gun’ theme song, music for epic world record

Barone’s team made sure that there would be some flare for the fastest-car-on-boat record-breaking attempt playing the theme song from ‘Top Gun’ as the Italian driver and his team were hoisted to the deck on the portside elevator. His honorary crew of mechanics for the day, a group of children with Down syndrome, unveiled his red and black Ferrari SF90 from underneath a red, satiny cover.

Before he made his record-breaking attempt, Barone first did some warm-up laps on the flight deck of the Nave Trieste. Once the 1,085-horsepower, V-8 turbo engine was primed, he positioned his car at the far end of the runway.

When he was given the all-clear his supercar shot across the 774-foot flight deck in a matter of seconds before coming to a stop at the other end on the ski jump that pilots use to launch their planes into the sky.

When asked afterwards by a reporter what the greatest mental challenge was, he responded: “Maintaining concentration, which is by far the most complicated thing.”

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