Veteran stuntmen now officially Guinness World Record holders

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A two-year long quest to officially break a dangerous Guinness World Record came to fruition.

On September 14, last year, veteran South African stuntmen Enrico Schoeman from Boksburg and André de Kock from Alberton rode a quad bike through a 36.59-metre long fire tunnel at the Midvaal Raceway in Meyerton, Gauteng.

This resulted in a new Guinness World Record, and the pair sent the relevant documentation to the Guinness World Record administrators in London, England, for ratification.

The ratification arrived only recently in the form of a certificate that cannot be bought.

Schoeman and de Kock already hold the Guinness World Record for riding a motorcycle through a 120m tunnel of fire, set at the Rhino rally in Parys, in November 2014.

“Obtaining the quad bike record was a long process,” Schoeman said.

“We do not have a low budget – we have no budget. Every part of the effort, from the quad bike, to the steel for the tunnel, the diesel, petrol and cardboard we burnt, plus our protective clothing, came from friends and sponsors.

“Without their assistance, we could not have attempted the run,” he added.

Last year, the pair’s first test run, before the record run, came to a dramatic end when they hit the side of the fire tunnel and fell, luckily just after exiting the tunnel.

“If we had fallen 10m earlier, we would not be here today,” he said.

Ratifying the record came with its own challenges.

“In the past, we would make up a package of the various documents, newspaper coverage and video footage, sending it to Guinness in London via courier, but they now demand all of it online,” Schoeman said.

“Luckily, our regular master of ceremonies, Riaan van Niekerk, is a computer expert, and he solved all the problems, a friend helping when we were in need.”

Van Niekerk, from Boksburg, had the Guinness certificate delivered to his home address.

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