The stunt performed by the Top Gear Live team in South Africa last month has been verified by Guinness World Records as the ‘First Double Loop by a Car’. The unique stunt took place on 16 June 2012 and was the finale to four Top Gear Festival shows staged in front of sell-out 17,000+ live crowds at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa over the weekend of 15-16 June.

“We are delighted to have received the official verification from Guinness World Records confirming yet another milestone for the Top Gear Live Stunt Team,” said Top Gear Live Creative Director, Rowland French. “We were the first to do a single loop-the-loop indoors and now the first to successfully complete a double loop-the-loop anywhere in the world, making us double record-breakers. Far from resting on our laurels, we already have an equally audacious world record in the pipeline for future live shows.”

The precision required of the driver was remarkable: he had to drive no slower than 24 mph, to stop the car falling out of the loop, and no faster than 26 mph, to prevent the risk of blacking out. He had to achieve this while the buggy went from horizontal to vertical in less than one second. In fact, he needed special hand controls to control the throttle, as he was involuntarily pressing the pedal too hard in practice, when the g-forces took over.