Speeding Ferrari tester fined

The Australian journalist caught test driving a Ferrari California at 144mph on public roads has been fined £990 and had his licence suspended for six months.

Rod Easdown, a 58-year-old motoring journalist, was 75mph over the speed limit in the Perth hills when he was caught.

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In mitigation he pleaded that, since the incident, he has since lost 60 per cent of his income as a journalist and has voluntarily given up driving.

The magistrate said Easdown was very remorseful about what was a one-off, out of character incident.

Easdown said he did not realise how fast he was going.

"The person in front of me was looking in his rear vision mirror, he was going from side-to-side on the road, and I just figured it was safer for both of us if I overtook him and I just overtook him way too fast," he said.

"It has really impacted on my livelihood. I've lost the major part of my job and I've lost the best job in motoring journalism in Australia, which I'm never going to get back."

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