Sometimes there is a very thin line between the sublime and the ridiculous. We're not sure on which side of that line this story falls but, according to the guys in the luminous green jackets that say "Guinness" and "Observer" it is definitely a new world record for the longest sustained drift.
On Saturday 11 May Johan Schwartz, a driving instructor at the BMW Performance Centre near Greenville in South Carolina revved up a bog-standard 2013 M5 sedan with double-clutch transmission, took it on to the centre's skid pan, hoofed it, counter-steered and threw it sideways.
And held it there. And held it there. And held it there, for a mind-numbing 322 and a half laps of the 256-metre circular track - that's 82.506km, according to the Guinness observers.
Which betters the previous mark, set in February in Abu Dhabi at 5.74km, by an emphatic 76.8km.
There was actually a method behind Schwartz' madness, however; he raised more than $20 000 (R186 000) in donations for the BMW Charity Pro-Am, which benefits more than 150 charities, by giving the spectators 'hot lap' rides after the record drift.
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