Sam Schmidt was on the verge of becoming an IndyCar title contender before he crashed his Treadway Racing G-Force in January 2000, testing at the Walt Disney World Speedway near Orlando in the run up to the Indy Racing League season opener. The 200mph impact broke the then 35-year-old’s back and left him quadriplegic, paralysed from the neck down. It hasn’t stopped him from driving supercars. The American has helped create a one-of-akind McLaren 720S which he can steer with his head and accelerate and brake with his breath. And he let me have a go.
From the outside the 720S Spider looks normal – well, normal for a 212mph McLaren – and behind the seats is a standard-issue 4-litre twin-turbo V8 developing 710bhp. But Arrow Electronics – a Colorado-based Fortune 500 company – has fitted optional extras.
Inside is a steering wheel on the left and pedals, because a co-driver is required just in case something goes wrong. I join Sam as his co-driver for a few laps of the circuit before he hands his seat over to me (I only had to grab the wheel to avoid the grass a couple of times!). On Schmidt’s side, there are no obvious controls and I take my
