One man in an Italian supercar atop an aircraft carrier. And a record in his sights

CIVITAVECCHIA, Italy (AP) — Along Italy’s Mediterranean coast on Thursday, driver Fabio Barone raced across the flight deck of a navy ship while chasing a world record: the fastest car on a boat.

Last year, Barone set the Italian Timekeepers Federation’s record on another aircraft carrier in southern Italy, hitting 152 kilometers per hour (94.4 mph). In Civitavecchia, on the coast near Rome, he aimed to reach 160 kph and then hit the brakes before launching off the deck’s so-called “ski jump” and smashing into the cruise ship stationed just fore.

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Race engineer Alessandro Tedino told The Associated Press that he wasn’t sure the record was attainable. The ship had been out at sea overnight, and the crew emerged in the early morning to find its flight deck wet. They immediately set to drying it, with the job finished by late summer sunbeams.

“If it remained wet, then of course it’s impossible to have the maximum speed and best brakes. It can be very, very dangerous,” he said.

As the “Top Gun” theme song rang out from speakers, the carrier’s portside elevator lifted Barone’s team to the deck where journalists, naval officers and VIPs waited. A group of children with Down syndrome, chosen to serve as honorary “mechanics for the day,” removed the red, satiny cover to reveal Barone’s steed: a red-and-black Ferrari SF90.

Barone eased himself into the supercar, then drove back and forth along the length of the deck several times to warm up its V-8 turbo engine. It roared louder with each pass as he pushed its 1,085 horses harder and harder. Then he placed himself at the far end of the 236-meter (774-foot) flight deck and awaited the all-clear.

“Here he goes! Here he goes!” the announcer called as Barone left his mark and zipped past the crowd. Mere seconds later he came to a safe stop, and the crowd applauded haltingly — impressed by the speedy spectacle, but unsure if he’d beaten the record. The official timekeeper approached the car and inspected the gauges within.

“The detected velocity: 164 kilometers per hour (101 mph). I declare it the new speed record on a ship!” he said, prompting hearty applause from the sidelines.

Barone lifted his arms to the sky, then hugged his crew, helmet still in place. Reporters swarmed.

“The main thing you focus on is concentration and then you realize that you are breaking the record only when you are halfway,” Barone said. “I have two hands, two feet and I use them at the same time like a pianist.”

Tedino said that Barone’s team will now submit their certified result to Guinness World Records, which told the AP in an email Thursday afternoon that “we look forward to receiving and reviewing the application and supporting evidence for his latest attempt.”

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AP videojournalist Paolo Santalucia contributed.