Pedal Car World Records

The best of the best (!)

Record information & rules | Timed records | Distance records

Specific record events:

PC1000 pages

Record information:

The records listed here are pedal car world records, only. Many quite possibly do not represent the fastest or furthest ever completed by a pedal car team; however they do represent the best known performance under controlled conditions. These conditions include an accurately measured track or distance, an accurately timed event and the following of common rules.

Record Rules:

In order to qualify for a pedal car world record, first you need a pedal car. This means a vehicle that complies fully with the International Pedal Car Specification. If it doesn't, then it may well be a very fast 4-wheeled HPV, but it's not a pedal car.

Once you have a pedal car, you need a driver or a team of them. Quite how many of them is largely up to you, provided you set a number and stick to it, and also provided you accept that a 500 mile record completed by a team of 20 drivers is somewhat less impressive than a slightly slower time for 500 miles completed by a team of 2.

If you know of a better performance than any listed here, which you can verify, please email the details to records@pedalcars.info.

Just because a particular record isn't listed in these pages doesn't mean you can't set it! Those listed are simply suggestions as to records you might like to take a crack at - feel free to invent your own, but they must be records that anyone in the world could attempt as well, so please nothing stupid - "38 miles by a team of 13 people from Kingston-upon-Hull who all have 'H' in their surname" will receive pretty short shrift! It's also sensible to stick to "landmark" times or distances, such as 1 mile, 100 miles, 1 hour, 6 hours, 24 hours, etc.

We would strongly suggest that any record of up to 1 hour / 20 miles should be solo driver only, rather than a team, but if you want to set a 100 metre sprint record for a team of 36, don't let us get in your way...

The record rules used for PC1000 are below; these were based on the BPCC race rules in force at the time of the event. If you wish to set a world record these are not compulsory but there are worse places you can start.

Any records marked "Guinness World Record™" have been officially verified by Guinness World Records Limited.

RACE RULES for Pedal Car World Record attempts (as used for PC1000)

These rules are interpreted from the BPCC's race rules; however as a record attempt is different from a conventional race, several aspects either do not apply and have been deleted, or have been modified to fit the circumstances of a record attempt. Allowance has been made for the possibility of multiple vehicles attempting records simultaneously.

1: CONFIGURATION OF TEAM

Teams shall consist of a maximum of six drivers of either gender (but see notes below).

There is no limit on the number of technical support staff / pit crew that may be employed.

All drivers used must be named prior to the start of the event. This also applies to record attempts where multiple cars are to be used simultaneously - i.e., a driver can only drive a car for which he or she is named as a driver.

2: AGE GROUPS and CLASSIFICATIONS

Open: All ages. For record attempts of less than 24 hours, limited to four drivers.
Under 16: All drivers in the team must be below the age of 16 years at the start of the record attempt.
Under 12: All drivers in the team must be below the age of 12 years at the start of the record attempt.
Solo: One driver only

Note: All teams qualify for all classifications for which they are eligible.

3: SUBSTITUTIONS

No driver substitutions will be permitted during the event. If any team member suffers injury, illness, etc. during the record attempt, the team will have to carry on without that member (temporarily or permanently) or abort the attempt.

4: CHANGEOVERS

Driver changeovers must take place in a safe location (e.g. a designated pit area on a closed circuit, or a safe location if the attempt is being made on public roads). There is no upper or lower limit on the number of laps, total distance or total time any one driver can do in a stint.

5: REPAIRS

Repairs must be carried out in a safe location.

6: OVERTAKING

In multiple-vehicle record attempts, cars being lapped must keep out of the way of faster cars if at all possible. When lapping slower cars, drivers of overtaking cars are advised to inform slower cars of which side they intend to overtake on by calling appropriately, such as, "On your left" (meaning "I am overtaking you on your left hand side, so please keep right"); "On your right/inside/outside" etc.

7: FLAGS

Flags are optional and may or may not be considered necessary to the attempt. This will probably be defined largely by the circumstances of the record attempt.

Yellow flag showing: Caution, be ready to stop
Red flag showing: Danger, stop immediately.
Chequered flag: Start & end of event.

8: DANGEROUS DRIVING

In multiple-vehicle record attempts, any driving that is considered dangerous, or detrimental to the attempts of other teams, shall result in immediate penalty to the offending team.

First offence: 1 lap deducted or 1-minute stop-go penalty, whichever is the greater penalty (and as appropriate to the record being attempted)
Second offence: 5 laps deducted or 5-minute stop-go penalty, as above
Third offence: Immediate disqualification (car will be removed from track.)

This includes: excessive or deliberate bumping, barging, deliberately driving off the track, swearing, cutting up other cars, swerving dangerously etc.

9: CARS

Each team shall use one car only. If a team is sponsored for charity or other good cause, they may replace a terminally broken car to complete the event but will not qualify for the record being attempted. Repairs and the replacement of worn-out components (such as tyres) are permitted. Cars shall comply with formula as described elsewhere.

Support vehicles are permitted, for example to enable water or food to be passed to the driver in the car or to transport resting drivers (in the case of records being attempted on public roads).

It is NOT permitted for a support vehicle to assist directly in the attempt, for example by pushing the car or by travelling ahead of the car to allow the driver to "slipstream" the support vehicle.

In multiple vehicle record attempts it is not permitted for cars to slipstream, push or otherwise assist each other except where this is an integral part of the attempt (e.g. similar to 2-person bicycle time trials)

10: HELMETS

A modern cycle helmet (complying with a recent Snell / ANSI standard) must be worn by all drivers when in the car at any time, whether practising or racing.

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