British driver Richard Payne has just set a new Guinness world record by successfully towing a 285-ton Airbus A380 superjumbo, which is the largest passenger airplane on Earth, and he did this all with just a standard Porsche Cayenne SUV.
Payne and his team who were behind the record-breaking feat flew all the way from London to Paris to carry it out at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Successfully being able to tow the massive plane over a distance of 42 meters, they had earned the title of “Heaviest aircraft pull by a production car”, beating the previous record of a 115 ton plane towed by a Cayenne S Diesel.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=g-OqEzK4uxg
Source: Youtube, Motor.TV
Payne, driver of the vehicle and technician at Porsche GB expressed his excitement in his statement: “It did it – I’m so relieved! We don’t usually go this far to test the limits of our cars but I think today we got pretty close. I could tell that it was working hard but the Cayenne didn’t complain and just got on with it. My mirrors were quite full of Airbus, which was interesting.”
Source: Daily Mail UK
“Our cars can go a bit beyond what our customers might expect – they’re designed to be tough. But even so, what the Cayenne did today was remarkable. We drove the car here from London – and I plan to drive it home again, having towed an A380 in between” he adds.
Source: Autoblog
While the attempt while mostly a British achievement, Payne also congratulated his colleagues from Porsche’s parent company in Southern Germany, saying “Credit should go to the team in Stuttgart who developed the car – they did a thorough job. I’m also very grateful to Air France and its engineers for their generosity in allowing me to tow their beautiful aircraft.”
Source: Daily Mail UK
Pravin Patel, adjudicator and supervisor of Guinness World Records who had witnessed the event said “I’ve verified some amazing record attempts during my time as a Guinness World Records adjudicator – watching a Porsche Cayenne tow one of the largest aircraft in the world definitely ranks as among the most spectacular. My congratulations go out to all those involved in achieving this remarkable feat.”
Porsche also commented on their involvement with setting the world record, saying “In accordance with the rules applied by Guinness World Records, the test was overseen by independent engineers. After the record was set, performance testing and scrutiny of every major component and electronic system on the vehicle was carried out in order to provide certification that the car was to production standard.”
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