Total MX-5 – July 2019

Summer 2019 | TOTAL MX-5 |^7

[ NEWS ]

how you want to play it. For
£9000 you can have a Guinness
official turn up on the day with
a clipboard, pen and a very
keen eye who can confirm the
record on the spot. Then there’s
what they call ‘priority
application’ that will push
through your paperwork quickly
for £2000. Or if you’re prepared
to wait for 12 weeks your
application can be processed
for free. Understandably we
chose the latter option.
‘There’s a stack of data you
have to collect on the day,
governed by some very hard to
achieve criteria, and you need
video evidence and
photographs, too. Working out
what we’d need and how to
gather it was time consuming
and complicated. As it got
closer to the event there were
practicalities to consider: for
instance, where to find a printer
to produce sequentially
numbered vehicle identification

stickers to go on people’s

windscreens. And having

printed up suitable registration

forms, we needed to recruit a

team to man the registration

station and ensure there were

enough pens...

‘We had to arrange pre-event

briefings for the volunteers who

would be marshalling traffic on

the day – to guide attendees

off the main road and then

either into general car parking

or on to the runway to take

part in the record attempt;

they’d also have to steer people

towards the registration tent

and then back to their cars after

that so that the record attempt

could begin.

‘Although we heavily

publicised the attempt in the

club magazine [Soft Top,

Hardtop], through various social

media channels, and through

many of our partners, there

were still lots of people who

didn’t know it was happening.

That made it hard to determine

how many cars would show up.

I crunched the numbers from

several years’ worth of Spring

and National Rallies and

thought there would be about

650, but more than double that

number rolled through the

gates. That was far more than

we could ever have imagined.

‘Communicating what would

be required of participants on

the track was hard. The rules

governing an attempt are

protected by Guinness and you

can’t publish them up front.

Cars could be a maximum of

two car lengths apart and the

whole field would need to be

simultaneously in motion for

two miles. For the convertibles

attempt, hoods would have to

be lowered, hardtops removed.

‘Once the cars started moving

there was the inevitable ‘elastic’

effect you’ll have witnessed in

heavy traffic on any motorway,

where some cars move off

sharply and others dawdle and

have to play catch-up, just as

those at the front are braking...

A number of stationary cars –

owners who had disappeared –

and a breakdown caused a bit

of chaos, but not as much as a

non-member who decided to

swap from his allocated lane

and nearly brought the whole

parade to a standstill... We’ve

got his number!

‘Despite the many hurdles,

drone footage shows the first

run was almost textbook

perfect. The third run, for

convertibles only, was a bit

hairy at the end when the final

car in the parade only just

crossed the finish line on the

move, confronted as they were

by a wall of cars waiting to exit

the track.

‘It’s tense and frustrating

waiting to learn whether we

achieved both records. But if

somehow we haven’t, I’m up for

giving it another shot!’