Blind racing car driver Mike ‘Superhuman’ Newman came to the island this week in a bid to gain extra sponsorship for an event he is running at Jurby Airfield in April.

Ten years ago, Mike and his friend John co-founded a charity called Speed of Sight, which provides racing experiences for individuals with visual impairments and other disabilities that prevent them from driving.

In late April he will be giving 50 individuals with disabilities the chance to get behind the steering wheel at Jurby race track.

Mike was born without any sight, but has had a keen interest in motorsports since he was a boy.

The Bolton man said: ‘My interest in high-performance cars and motorcycles stayed with me from childhood into adulthood.

‘I wanted to see if there was a way that I could experience the thrill and excitement of controlling a high-performance car.’

Mike had driven a few times throughout his teenage years and early 20s, but was first able to drive at speed in 2003.

At the age of 39, Mike first drove a motorbike: ‘This happened with a friend of mine who lived near me.

‘He was a keen biker, and I said, I fancy driving this, but I’m not sure if I can do it – there must be a way.

‘We had lots of conversations about how it could work, the practicalities, and we got to a point where we stopped talking about it and saw if we could do it and that was successful.

‘I think that gave me some credibility to go and ask somebody for a highly expensive motorcar, if I could ride a motorbike then I could manage a motorcar.’

A few years later Mike convinced the local dealer to let him drive a Jaguar.

The 61-year-old said: ‘My first record in a car in 2003 was in a Jaguar and the top speed of that was 155 miles per hour.

‘I realised after I had done it, if I wanted to be a real racing driver I needed to be going a lot quicker. So after a few other record attempts, and increasing my speed bit by bit I achieved my goal in 2014 by taking a car more than 200 miles per hour.’

Mike is able to drive by using a radio link with a navigator who is in a chase vehicle, the navigator gives Mike directional information all the way.

He has set nine Guinness World Records, including two water speed records, an aerial loop de loop record and motorcycle and car speed records.

He said: ‘Guinness will only validate the record if they see that you are blindfolded. Being blindfolded to me makes no difference, but they still insist I have to cover the visor.’

Speed of Sight, the charity which Mike co-founded, was set up after he noticed how much those with disabilities whom he had spoken to missed driving.

Mike said: ‘After getting some notoriety from the two records that I had at the time, I went to various car events, and spoke to people who had become disabled in adult life, and as a consequence they had to relinquish their drivers licence.

‘The thing they missed most was that they couldn’t drive anymore. That was a constant message from the people I was talking to.

‘So I started thinking about how I could give them back that exhilaration behind the wheel. If I can do it for myself, how can I do it for other people?

‘I came up with a concept that I thought would work and eventually, I spoke to my friend John who co-founded the charity with me.’

Speed of Sight was invited to the island by the British Irish Trading Alliance, a networking organisation, who work across the British Isles to bring businesses together and help with sponsorship.

Jennie Thompson, director of the Isle of Man branch, said: ‘We do events which promote the island and through facilitation, we help both businesses and charities.

‘We will have sponsorship for the three-day event next year, but we will also be raising money for local charity Sight Matters.’

This week Mike Newman was on the island for the first time to drive on the Jurby airfield track, and for a get-together held by the British Irish Trade Alliance which aimed to attract more sponsors ahead of April’s event.

He said: ‘It’s going to be a great event in April, we are very excited, and the island has such a phenomenal history in motorsport, it feels like the perfect fit.

‘The TT is also on my bucket list to do one day.’