Former Formula 1 racing driver David Coulthard caught a golf ball while driving a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster, setting a new Guinness World Record for the farthest golf shot caught in a moving car.
The German carmaker Mercedes-Benz, professional golfer Jake Shepherd, and Coulthard joined forces to create the golf stunt video for Mercedes that has already been watched more than 2 million times on YouTube.
At the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, UK, Coulthard caught the golf ball that was hit by Shepherd at 178 mph. The ball landed in the passenger seat of the moving Mercedes-Benz SLS, 275 metres away from the tee.
A new Guinness World Record for the farthest golf shot caught in a moving car
The stunt was verified by an adjudicator from Guinness World Records, making it officially the farthest golf shot caught in a moving car.
The video of the stunt has gone viral on social media. Within one week of the video’s release on 20 June 2012, more than 1.5 million people watched it on YouTube and shared it countless times on other social media platforms. Since then, the stunt has been watched 2.2 million times.
It took Coulthard and Shepherd a few rounds of practice before they managed to set the record. In order to catch the ball, the former racing driver had to take his eyes off the road to see where the ball would land.
“It’s an adrenaline rush. But it’s not the most comfortable thing in the world to do because for the moment you are not watching the road,” Coulthard explained.
Teeing off
The former Formula 1 star caught the ball in the passenger seat of the car, travelling at a speed of 120 mph. “I was the happiest I have ever been. I was so surprised, quite frankly, that [the ball] went in. And it went in quite solidly,” Coulthard said.
The new Guinness World Record was sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, who provided one of its fastest and most luxurious convertible cars for the stunt. The Mercedes Benz SLS AMG Roadster has 571hp under the bonnet and accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in just 3.8 seconds. The car can reach an electronically-limited top speed of 197 mph.
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