A Ferrari driver who pleaded guilty to speeding across a Vancouver bridge at more than 150 km/h over the limit put on a mask, sunglasses and hat as he left the courthouse and refused to answer questions.
Yihao Wang, 22, appeared in a North Vancouver provincial court on Tuesday. He spoke only once, answering “yes” when the judge asked if he understood his guilty plea. Before exiting the building, Wang obscured his face with a black surgical mask, large aviator-style sunglasses, and a black ball cap.
“He is very sorry for what occurred. He regrets it,” Wang’s lawyer David Baker told CTV Vancouver on Tuesday.
Last July, police clocked Wang behind the wheel of a 2015 Ferrari 458 driving at 210 km/h on the Lions Gate Bridge -- more than triple the posted speed limit of 60 kilometres per hour. The car, worth an estimated $250,000, was impounded for 60 days.
Wang’s was prohibited from driving for 16 months. The officer who pulled him over opted to press for a trial rather than hand him a ticket, a decision that could lead to a heftier fine and a more severe penalty. Wang is scheduled to be sentenced in May.
Baker had no explanation for his client’s actions.
“I guess it’s the same reason that anybody speeds,” he said. “I expect now that he has been sanctioned in this way that he will slow down significantly.”
Police said Wang’s driving record could factor into his sentencing. Court records show a number of driving and speed-related offences have been brought against an individual with the same name and birth year.
In 2016, Wang was nabbed speeding on the same bridge, that time in a Mercedes sedan.
The West Vancouver Police Department said he was clocked at 126 kilometres per hour. He did not dispute that ticket, which was issued by the same officer who pulled him over in the Ferrari in July.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s David Molko
