Saturday February 12th, 2000

Former Formula One driver Jacky Ickx was lucky to escape an assault in Brussels on Wednesday, the Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure reports today.

Ickx told the paper that he parked his Mercedes 500 near a restaurant, when two hooded and armed men assaulted him. "They said to me 'give me your keys or we will kill you,'" said Ickx. "I did not think. I threw my car keys behind a bush and walked towards them saying 'go on kill me. Kill me and you will spend the rest of your life in prison.'"

According to Ickx, The two sprayed tear gas in his face and fled away. "I know I did not react the right way," Ickx concluded. "I did not reflect and had a rush of blood, I took an enormous risk."