Daredevil stunts are a very old practice and a new one was born on Monday at a French ski resort, as a specially designed Mini automobile set a new back flip record.
According to Yahoo.com, the specifically designed MINI was driven by extreme sportsman Guerlain Chicherit and goes down as the first backflip using a car on a static ramp in history. The report says that the car jumped on a ramp that was specially designed at a former venue for the 1992 Winter Olympics.
The move was done at the French ski resort of Tignes, where the next X Games will be held, and set the Guinness Book of World Records as the first car backflip using a static ramp by the 34-year-old thrill seeker.
Chicherit is one of the most decorated extreme sports athletes in the world and he has already won four world freestyle skiing championships and was also part of the X-raid Team that led a Mini ALL4 to consecutive Dakar Rally wins in 2012 and 2013.
The company let out some footage in January practicing the jump and it was viewed thousands of times on YouTube. MINI and owner BMQ have been working on record-breaking activities for the past 12 months, including when 28 United Kingdom gym members squeezed into the three door car, beating the existing record of 27, set in 2011.
Chicherit has been practicing the stunt with the car for about four years and his supped up Mini Countryman hit the ramp at 37 mph, giving him the proper speed to pull off the stunt. According to the Daily Mail, the move was done once in private and then unveiled for the crowds in Tignes.
After racing down to the ramp, the French star hit the ramp and went at least 75 feet into the air before pulling the vehicle 360-degrees backwards. After landing the car Chicherit put the rear wheels down on the specially designed Alps ramp and landed safely. The event, which had thousands of fans watching, was sponsored by Monster energy drink.
Said Chicherit about the jump, according to Yahoo: "Before the jump it was crazy. I was alone in the car before the start and I just had to do it, everything was ready. I had to arrive at 60kph [37mph] and be full throttle in the kicker to get the right rotation. In the jump, I knew the balance of the car was good and it took me maybe 20 seconds to realise I had landed on my wheels."
The backflip move previously had been attempted by a group of other drivers, but the first time it was pulled off successfully was by Guerlain, who has cut his teeth in rally driving, skiing, free-riding and snowboarding. While no specs of the car have been released yet, it is known that the Mini was specifically designed to handle the jump.
"When you attempt something nobody has ever achieved before, the stress is really high but the only way is to just try it." He added later: "It wasn't the craziest thing I've ever done but for sure it's in the top three. It was sick - I just want to do it again."
Following the amazing feat, the stunt man wrote simply on Twitter: "I did it!!!! :-)))))"
The winter sports stunt comes only weeks after a tragic accident at the ESPN Winter X Games in Aspen when snowmobile driver Caleb Moore was killed after crashing during on of his runs.
