Brit ‘imitating video game TOTALS £90k Audi in 110mph police chase in Spain’

A BRIT said to have been imitating a video street racing game has been arrested in Spain after totalling a powerful Audi RS6 during a 110mph police chase.

The 21-year-old man was held along with a 19-year-old Irish teenager with him in the £90,000 car after smashing into a roadside barrier in the city of Seville in the rented 600 horsepower vehicle.

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Investigators were last night said to be probing whether he was part of a group of wealthy youngsters belonging to a betting ring organised around high-speed races which emulate video games.

The unnamed Brit, the only one of the two men who was hauled to court, was today on bail after being released from custody by an investigating judge while a criminal investigation continues.

The pair were held by local police following a six-mile chase along streets which last week were packed with hundreds of thousands of Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt fans preparing for the Europa League final.

Police sources say the Audi driver came close to hitting several people as he sped through Cristina Gardens, a small park close to the emblematic Alfonso XIII hotel, before driving the wrong way up the Paseo Colon.

He is also said to have mounted a pavement and driven onto the wrong side of the road after being picked up by a police car which tried to stop him.

The Brit lost control of the vehicle near an industrial estate on the outskirts of Seville after hitting traffic lights.

Firefighters had to be called out to remove the smashed-up Audi from the metal barrier it ended up on top of as police took the driver away in handcuffs.

Local reports say the Irish teenage passenger in the car, who was released without charge after being initially arrested, told them he had met the driver by playing online video games with him.

The Audi they were in was rented in the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella, the same place another Audi RS6 reportedly smashed into a police patrol car at nearly 100mph a week before Sunday afternoon’s Seville drama in an incident police sources say could be linked.

Respected local paper Diario de Sevilla said: “The initial findings of the ongoing investigation point to the British youngster forming part of a group of youths that try to emulate in real life scenes from a well-known car racing video game.

“They are wealthy lads who place bets on these illegal competitions, that consist of trying to escape the police and carrying out dangerous manoeuvres, like driving through pedestrian areas or going the wrong way at high speed up main roads.”

Court officials confirmed the detainee had appeared before a duty judge in a closed court hearing on Monday afternoon.

Sources said he had been released on bail pending an ongoing criminal probe. He has not yet been charged with any offence as is normal in Spain where formal charges are only laid shortly before trial.

The £86,000 600 horsepower Audi RS6 can do 0-60 in just 3.7 seconds. It has a top speed of 190mph.

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