Nissan catches the drift with a 304 kph world record in Fujairah

A specially tuned MY16 Nissan GT-R broke the Guinness World Records by hitting a speed of 304.96kph while drifting at a 30-degree angle.

Nissan sets the Guinness World Records title for the fastest drift in Fujairah. Courtesy Nissan

FUJAIRAH // A world record for the fastest drift was made at the eastern emirate’s airport on Thursday.

A specially tuned MY16 Nissan GT-R set the Guinness World Record by hitting 304.96 kph while drifting at a 30-degree angle.

Behind the wheel was Masato Kawabata, the Japanese drifting series champion, who snatched the record from Jakub Przygoński, of Poland.

“Once again, Nissan has broken a Guinness World Record title and has made international history for the fifth time in the Middle East,” said Samir Cherfan, managing director of Nissan Middle East.

“The fact that this achievement was set here in the UAE makes it even more special for our region. Setting this incredibly difficult world record was a clear demonstration of the excitement we are bringing to the Middle East with the Nismo [Nissan’s performance car] brand.”

Fujairah International Airport was chosen for its 3km long airstrip, he said.

The goal on the day was to hit a drift speed of more than 300 kph and Kawabata, who leads in the Japanese drifting series for Team Tokyo, was chosen from a group of specialised competition drivers.

Mohammed Al Salami, chairman of the airport, said: “We had to set up a workshop in one of the airport’s hangars and had just five days to get everything ready, including the specially tuned MY16 Nissan GT-R, spare parts, tyres and all the other equipment, which required stringent security checks and processes.”