Cops Nab Man Who Stole GBP 2M Test Ferrari That Belonged To British F1 Driver Eddie Irvine

Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

A man who stole a rare GBP-2 million Ferrari that once belonged to British ex-F1 driver Eddie Irvine during a test drive has finally been arrested by the German police.

The police finally nabbed the 45-year-old French national, who made headlines two years ago for allegedly stealing a rare Ferrari model valued at over EUR 2.35 million (GBP 2 Million), in the German town of Grevenbroich.

The man, who was not named by local media, reportedly stole the 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO after he posed as a prospective buyer and took it on a test drive in the German city of Dusseldorf in May 2019.

The GBP two million Ferrari that got stolen during a test drive in Germany. (Polizei Dusseldorf/Newsflash)

However instead of returning the vehicle back to the owner, the 45-year-old fled away and was reported missing by the German police.

The rare Ferrari 288 GTO sports car, one of 272 produced between 1984 and 1987, was found shortly afterwards in the town of Grevenbroich located to the southwest of Dusseldorf.

According to local media, the first owner of the stolen supercar was former F1 driver Eddie Irvine from Northern Ireland, a teammate of F1 legend Michael Schumacher, who won four Grand Prix wins during his career between 1993 and 2002.

The GBP two million Ferrari that got stolen during a test drive in Germany. (Polizei Dusseldorf/Newsflash)

Nevertheless, car fingerprints, a photo of a company’s surveillance camera showing the French man approaching the sports car, and further investigations later located the man in the city of Beauvais serving a prison sentence for a similar crime he committed in France previously.

After the man completed his two-year-long sentence in his home country, he was immediately extradited to Germany and handed over to the Federal Police last week.

He was accompanied by two police officers during his flight from Paris to Frankfurt Airport in Germany.

Ex-Formula One driver Eddie Irvine who once owned the GBP two million Ferrari which got stolen by a man during a test drive in Germany. (@eddieirvineofficial/Newsflash)

After he arrived, the 45-year-old suspect was imprisoned in a correctional facility in Dusseldorf where he awaits trial for commercial theft.