Someone in China scooped the Guinness Book of World Records on its own event by posting the above video on Youku a full nine days before Guinness had it on its website, leading one to ask… does anyone still take the Guinness Book of World Records seriously anymore?
Other than professional parallel parkers, I mean.
Ahem.
The Chinese edition of China Daily tells us on May 22 that “on May 21, just after an Italian driver had set a parallel-parking record of 21 cm in the morning, it was broken in the afternoon by a Chinese challenger” named Han Yue. Guinness notes: “The record has changed hands five times in the past two years, with our video of German driving ace Ronny Wechselberger’s successful attempt last year becoming something of an internet sensation with viewing figures hitting the millions.”
Huh.
Concerning Han Yue’s recent record, Guinness’s website, for whatever reason, neglects to mention the Italian driver who set the benchmark in the morning, though we do find out the previous official record-holder was Patrik Folco, who “neatly slid his way into a gap measuring just 22 cm (8.66 in) longer than the car he was driving last month.” Han drifted into a space of only 15 cm longer than his vehicle, shaving a ridiculous 7 cm off the record previously thought “unlikely to be broken.”
This is the stuff of Internet sensations, folks. #TheAgeWeLiveIn