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Strasbourg - Former Formula One star David Coulthard was fined for speeding after clocking 178km/h on a French motorway during a charity rally, police said on Wednesday.
The Scottish racing driver was stopped and fined on Tuesday while taking part in the "Gumball 3000" rally that takes contestants across public roads in Europe from Dublin to Bucharest.
Coulthard, 45, who drove for the McLaren-Mercedes Formula One team in the 1990s and 2000s, was stopped in France's Alsace region and paid an on-the-spot fine of $155, police said.
If he had been driving just one km/h more, he would have had to forfeit his licence.
Fourteen other rally contestants were also stopped for breaking France's 130km/h motorway speed limit.
The Gumball rally sees wacky and vintage cars race over seven days between two European cities.
A police source said they acted "not to reprimand (the drivers) but to calm the situation".
"These are low vehicles. The drivers of heavy goods lorries risk not seeing them. We can't let them... scare other drivers," the source added.
