BMW M5 driver sets new Guiness World Record for drifting

Driving instructor’s slide went for so long, they had to refuel on the run.

A BMW M5 is refuelled on the run during a world record attempt. Pic: Supplied.

John Schwartz’s day at the office is a little different to most.

Last month, the BMW instructor spent his entire eight-hour shift sideways in an M5.

His job was to deliver a new Guiness World Record for the longest drift in an eight-hour period.

The record was claimed at BMW’s Performance Centre in South Carolina and involved a custom-built, fighter-jet style refuelling system that allowed Schwartz to fill up the M5’s tank while sliding the tail out.

An unconventional way to fill up. Pic: Supplied.

Schwartz covered 374.2 kilometres on the centre’s skid pan, breaking the previous record by 230km.

BMW developed the custom-built, on-the-move refuelling system in collaboration with US company Detroit Speed.

A second BMW M5 driven by another driving instructor, Matt Mullins, sidled up next to Schwartz’s car, allowing refueller Matt Butts to straddle the two cars as he pumped fuel from one to another.

Would you like the windscreen cleaned as well, sir? Pic: Supplied.

Butts, secured by a safety tether, leaned out of the rear window of the second car and fed the fuel through a custom-made set of pipes into the lead car’s petrol tank.

“Although we practised the refuelling several times before the Guiness World Records title attempt, there was very little margin for error,” said Butts.

“We’re very excited to have played a part in Johan and BMW recapturing this record.”

Delicate operation. The process involved synchronised drifting. Pic: Supplied.

The pair of drivers secured a second world record by drifting side-by-side on the watery skidpan for an hour, covering almost 80km.

The new M5 arrives in Australia in April 2018 and BMW is planning a series of events to celebrate the launch.

A group of BMW Australia employees has restored a 1990-build E34 BMW M5 as part of the celebrations.

The Alipne White car was one of 90 built to Australian specification.