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On 27th August 2020 at Porsche Experience Centre, Hockenheim, Germany the record title for longest vehicle drift (electric car) was broken not once, but twice! 

BBC Top Gear presenter Chris Harris was invited to Germany to attempt the record first.

Chris attempted the record title 3 times. 

He was in drift for 18 laps, which took less than 10 minutes - he struggled to keep the vehicle in drift more than expected.  

Whilst he was successful in beating the minimum requirement of 2.5km, his record attempt was only 3.3km. 

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Chris was presented with the certificate, which he received enthusiastically.

But his success was short lived as he said to camera: "let's have a real professional have a go at it - watch this!"

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Dennis Retera, the chief instructor at Porsche Experience Centre, attempted the record title to capture the Porsche Taycan drifting until the battery was completely drained.

Retera completed an impressive 210 smooth laps in continuous drift over 54 minutes and set the record title at 42.171 km.

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Official Guinness World Records Adjudicator Joanne Brent and vehicle and drifting expert Denise Ritzman also known as the "Queen of Drifting" witnessed the attempt.

They sat together on the side of the track watching the wheels intensely and counting laps.

"I spotted him frequently using the walkie talkie during the attempt and driving one-handed. He made it all look very easy and only stopped because he drained the battery to 0%," Adjudicator Joanne Brent said. 

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Porsche professional Dennis Retera completed 210 laps on the 200-metre-long circular track without the front wheels even standing up once in the direction of the curve.

With this marathon distance he secured the record title. The average speed he achieved was 46 km/h.

After the attempt, Dennis stated: "With the driving stability programmes switched off, a Powerslide in the electric Porsche is extremely easy, especially with this rear-wheel drive version."

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There is always enough power and a low centre of gravity and long wheelbase ensures stability."

"Chassis and steering allow for sovereign control even when moving sideways."

"It was very exhausting to keep concentration high for over 210 laps, especially as the irrigated asphalt of the drift circuit did not have the same grip everywhere. I concentrated on controlling the drift with the steering - this is more efficient than using the accelerator pedal and reduces the risk of spinning" - Dennis Retera

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