A FERRARI sports car driver sped through leafy Oxfordshire villages during a ‘dangerous’ street race with another motorist, a court has heard.

John McGurk is claimed to have driven a Ferrari F40 at up to 80mph in the rural roads near Blenheim Palace, before overtaking in a row of cars just before a bend on the A44 near Enstone.

Prosecutors say that the 44-year-old, of Loxley Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, then lied to police by falsely claiming that somebody else had been behind the wheel at the time.

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McGurk denies one count of dangerous driving and another count of doing acts tending to pervert the course of public justice.

Prosecutors at Oxford Crown Court claim that the offences arose from an incident which an eyewitness described as two cars ‘racing’ along the A44.

Outlining the case before jurors yesterday, prosecutor Adam Williams said that McGurk's driving in the Ferrari F40 on the afternoon of September 1, 2017, amounted to being ‘dangerous’ to other road users.

Oxford Mail:

The A44 near Bladon and Woodstock. Picture: Google Maps

He said that the red sports car was seen driving along the A44 near Bladon at speeds between 70mph and 80mph, and it was followed by a Seat Ibiza.

Jurors were told that later and on leaving the village of Enstone while travelling northbound, the Ferrari performed a ‘dangerous’ overtaking manoeuvre, crossing double white lines.

Taking to the witness box yesterday, eyewitness and retired road traffic police officer with Thames Valley Police, Richard Medway, described the manoeuvre as ‘suicidal.’

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The former PC, with over 16 years’ experience with the roads policing team, said: “Without warning to me, or probably any other road users, he obviously put his foot down hard and accelerated.

“I don’t know what gear he was in but it accelerated very quickly into the wrong side of the road and there is a right hand bend coming up.

Oxford Mail:

File photo of a Ferrari F40. Picture: Spanish Coches/ Adrian Presa/ Wikimedia Commons

“I thought ‘my God if there is someone coming up around that bend I am going to witness a head-on collision.’

“I was just waiting for the crash.”

Describing the run-up to the overtaking manoeuvre, Mr Medway said it seemed the Ferrari had been ‘racing’ with the Seat Ibiza which trailed behind.

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He said: “[I thought] that they may be racing. They may have known one another. I thought it was pretty ludicrous that a Seat Ibiza would try to keep up with a Ferrari F40.”

Following the alleged dangerous driving, prosecutors claim that McGurk then lied to police in order to frustrate police attempts to investigate the case.

Oxford Mail:

The stretch of the A44 where the dangerous driving allegedly happened. Picture: Google Maps

It is claimed that between September 4 and October 18 2017, he pursued a course of conduct which amounted to perverting the course of public justice by nominating somebody else as the driver.

The trial continues.