As Brian Gillespie will attest, things can turn very nasty, very quickly when closing in on 200mph.

Earlier this month, at an SCTA race event in Southern California, he was attempting to get his plucky first-generation Honda Insight past the 200mph barrier. That was until something went wrong at 178mph.

A small sway to the right sent the Honda into a full-on broadside slide, anchoring the wheels into the lake bed and then into a violent set of high-speed tumbles.

Most of the car was destroyed, but the beefy roll cage remained. This, as well as the stringent SCTA safety regulations (mandated head-and-neck restraints, side-to-side head support and arm restraints to keep hands inside the car) saved Brian’s life.

He remained conscious throughout the crash and was cut out of the car and airlifted to hospital with a collapsed lung and bruising. He has since been discharged and is back at work. Brian is clearly made of stern stuff.

We’ll be filing this in our ‘BIG ONES’ cabinet. Just below Jeremy Foley’s Pikes Peak crash.