Russian drifter Evgeny Novokshonov wrote his name in motorsport history a few years ago. A Yekaterinburg resident made the longest skid in history… with a normal “six”, breaking the BMW record.
For the sake of a unique achievement, the Russian was ready to sacrifice even his own health.
In 2019, Novokshonov came up with a seemingly crazy idea – to set a drifting world record. The previous one belonged to BMW: in 2017, the driving school instructor of the German consortium Johan Schwartz kept the car skidding for 8 hours and 374 kilometers.
– I decided to find out who is doing this in the world, who set records, made achievements. I saw the BMW Guinness record and decided that there was nothing complicated about it: I can last eight hours, even more – the homeless man told Ren TV.
Eugene decided to implement the plan with the help of a Russian car. To do this, he rebuilt the old VAZ-2106 almost from scratch:
– This “six” was specially prepared for the “drift” discipline, this car is light, with plastic body elements and a suspension of its own production. This machine weighs, together with the gun, 800 kilograms, about a ton, Novokshonov explained.
Ural Drift League
Evgeniy determined Lake Kaldy in the Chelyabinsk region as the starting point – there was a track specially equipped for drifting there. At 10 a.m., the runner began the live broadcast. To the surprise of many, he managed to almost double the result: he lasted 17 hours and 34 minutes (426 kilometers) in a controlled skid. This is the time recorded live on “YouTube”. To be fair, the drifter could have lasted longer, but frostbite from harsh winter weather and a broken radiator forced him to stop.
The first record was recorded by the Ural Drift League. The cyclist wanted to register his achievement in the Guinness Book of Records, but it was impossible to confirm the result due to the sanctions imposed on Russia. Then Novokshonov turned to the national association. Thanks to the support of the viewers, he managed to raise half the amount required for the contribution; as a result, in our country the record was officially confirmed and entered the Russian Book of Records. The rest of the necessary funds were donated by sponsors.
