As Guinness World Records go, this is surely one of the weirder ones.
It’s not clear exactly what compelled Mike Stallone to go for the “greatest distance driven over water by an RC (remote-controlled) car” record, but go for it he did.
Stallone attempted the record on a lake near Richfield Springs, New York, sending his $930 Traxxas-made X-Maxx RC car — complete with paddle tires — racing across the water for an impressive 0.95 miles (1.53 km). The effort smashed the previous record of 0.42 miles (0.67 km) set by none other than Traxxas.
A video (top) of the record-breaking ride shows the car motoring over the surface of the lake — sometimes only on its back wheels — as Stallone and his team control and track the vehicle from a nearby speedboat.
About halfway through, the car appears to momentarily disappear below the water, but the machine is far from done and motors on for another quarter of a mile or so before finally conking out and toppling over.
Stallone actually achieved the world record last year, but Guinness World Records has only now posted the video highlighting the achievement.
In his own video (below) of the event, Stallone is understandably ecstatic at the stellar performance of his plucky RC car, telling viewers: “That was absolutely amazing, I had no idea this big monster truck would be able to go that far … skipping on the water, and I was even able to do a wheel stand on the water, which really just shows the power of this truck.”
“Michael owned multiple Guinness World Records books as a child and has always dreamed of one day achieving a record,” the famous benchmarking institution said on its website. “He spent weeks preparing his truck and studying footage before driving six hours to the prime location to attempt the record.”
Another recent tech-related record attempt saw British stuntman Richard Browning don a jet suit and fly 100 meters in a bid to beat the fastest sprint time set by retired Jamaican runner Usain Bolt. You can watch the daredevil effort here.
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