Danish racing driver Johan Schwartz spends his days pushing cars to their limits, so BMW knew he was the man for the challenge when it came to attempting a Guinness World Records title in its new M5 saloon.
The car manufacturer invited Johan along to the Performance Center in Greer, South Carolina, to challenge the Greatest distance vehicle drift in 8 hours on 11 December 2017 – a title previously achieved by Germany’s Harald Müller.
The mark to beat stood at 144.126 km (89.55 miles).
Watched by an excited audience of his friends, family, BMW employees and, of course, an official adjudicator, Johan started the engine and eight hours later smashed the record with an incredible new distance of 374.17 km (232.5 miles) in the sedan.
American precision driver Matt Mullins was also on the water-covered skid pad, hoping to secure a second record for the BMW M5: Longest twin vehicle drift (water assisted).
For this title, the two drivers had to remain in motion and in drift for the entire attempt, all while staying within one vehicle distance between each other.
The duo achieved an impressive 79.26 km (49.25 mi), which easily surpassed the previous record of 28.52 km (17.72 miles), set in Dubai back in 2014.
Though not necessary for the Guinness World Records attempt, BMW had teamed up with Detroit Speed to create a 'custom dry brake fuel system' that meant the cars could top up their fuel while still moving.
This was not Johan’s first test at breaking a record, having previously achieved the Longest continuous vehicle drift while driving an older model of the BMW M5 in 2013. However, this title has since been broken twice.
Johan and Matt have both been at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week, demonstrating their record-breaking drifting skills to guests.
