On Saturday morning Billy Baxter will try to ride a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R at more than 150mph. In view of recent speed prosecutions for superbike riders, that may not seem remarkable. But Baxter is blind.

Baxter was a staff sergeant in the Royal Horse Artillery before a rare eye disease caused him to lose his sight in Bosnia in 1997. He will be attempting to take the world blind solo land speed record on a motorcycle. The attempt will also raise funds for St Dunstan’s, the charity that provides care and rehabilitation for blind ex-servicemen and servicewomen.

Baxter, nicknamed Billy the Whizz, has asked for no special modifications to the Kawasaki but will have two riders on similar machines providing verbal guidance by radio as they run alongside him on the runway at RAF Boscombe Down, Wiltshire.

The existing blind motorcycle record is 78.4mph. The car record of 131mph set by Ken Moss, a blind driver, in an MG, was beaten last year by a sighted driver wearing a blindfold when Alistair Weaver, a journalist, reached almost 155mph in an Audi S8.

For information or to make a donation, contact 01980 592 935 (www.st-dunstans.org.uk).