Speeding Ferrari driver caught after YouTube post

Ferrari 458 Italia Drive in Japan

TOKYO, March 10, 2012 (AFP) - A boastful Ferrari driver who put film on the Internet of his supercar doing three times the speed limit in Japan was facing possible jail Saturday, after disapproving YouTube viewers called police.

The 50-year-old doctor uploaded a six-minute video showing him driving his Ferrari 458 Italia through Fukuoka, in southern Japan, at 84 kilometres (52 miles) an hour over the limit, police said.

Speed limits tend to be fairly low in Japan, with 40 kilometres an hour not uncommon on urban roads.

The man was only averaging 124 kilometres an hour in a car with an official top speed of more than 325 kph, but local media quoted him telling police: "I wanted people to understand the beauty of a Ferrari. I wanted to feel proud."

Reports said outraged YouTube users called police to report the offence, adding officers calculated the speed by analysing the distance covered by the vehicle.

Officers identified the car and driver from the footage and a police spokesman told AFP the doctor, whose name was withheld, could be jailed for up to six months or fined a maximum 100,000 yen ($1,220) if convicted.

The film, titled "Ferrari 458 Italia Drive in Japan 2011", could still be seen on YouTube on Saturday, and is shot from behind the driver in the $220,000 car.

It shows the vehicle pass other cars on a two-lane motorway but struggle to catch up with what appears to be a Porsche.