Two weeks ago we reported about The Longest Drive and its quest to take down the record set by the Cape to Cape 2.0 team by travelling from the northern point of Norkapp, Norway to the Cape Agulhas. And the team has just broken the record by an incredible seven hours.
“On Monday afternoon, The Longest Drive team, driving from North Cape in Norway, successfully reached Cape Agulhas in South Africa in 8 days 21 hours and 3 minutes. During the extremely challenging journey, our team of three covered more than 17 000 km in a Porsche Cayenne, breaking the standing record by a solid 7 hours and 6 minutes,” said Jan Kalmar.
“The previous record time was good, so we had to avoid time-consuming mistakes. A big motivation for the team was that more people walked on the moon than those who managed to accomplish this non-stop journey of almost cosmic proportions. This is what kept us motivated to move forward during the whole journey.
“Richard Mitchell, the mayor of Cape Agulhas Municipality, congratulated the Longest Drive crew members upon their arrival at Cape Agulhas and we presented him with the municipality flag by Mayor Kristina Hansen, which was brought all the way from Nordkapp,” added Kalmar.
Kalmar said that the trip was a massive challenge.
“Though every member of The Longest Drive crew had a high experience in a long distance driving, it was a hard challenge for all of us to accomplish. In order to break the previous record of 9 days 4 hours and 9 minutes, careful initial preparations, strict driving and resting order and attentive handling of the car were required. For example, every single stop at the gas station took under eight minutes, winter tyre change was also performed in about eight minutes, and even two broken rims were repaired in about 40 minutes.
“During our record drive, the Longest Drive crew crossed the 20 countries in total. To cross the borders in shortest time possible, the Longest Drive crew had to take care of all required documentation in advance and to find locals who would help to speed up the process. The biggest challenge is not to drive a modern car though Africa but to cross the sometimes very chaotic borders.
“The other challenging task was driving the car on non-stop. Normally the team went through six hours shifts. Furthermore, wild animals represents a big risk while driving in Africa, therefore the driver and co-driver had to be fully concentrated at any time.
“Despite all the difficulties and horrible road conditions, we managed to the reach Cape Agulhas although with a quite worn out Porsche Cayenne – three broken rims, four broken tires, a broken shock absorber, broken windscreen and a bent suspension. The team also experienced some difficulties with the car after they filled low quality gasoline in Ethiopia, but the problem was quickly solved by getting better quality fuel.
“Having accomplished the challenging journey and successfully set a new record, The Longest Drive team is especially grateful to all its supporters. The whole team is also thankful to more than 7 000 fans on Facebook, who closely followed their progress.
And now the planning started for the next project … Maybe South America,” concluded Kalmar.
Facts and figures:
The Longest Drive record: 8 days 21 hours and 3 minutes – including parking the car for 19 hours 10 min. to compensate for the flown distance.
Previous record: 9 days 4 hours and 9 minutes
Difference: 7 hours and 6 minutes
Total distance: 17 475 km
Fuel consumed: 1 949 l
Average consumption: 11,16 L/100 km
