Many of the greatest video’s of all time begin with ‘Please do not try this at home’, today’s video falls squarely in the middle of this category. John Cooper Works and the Monster Rally have teamed up to perform the impossible, a full backflip in a car, calculated insanity that is truly warning worthy.
Often the statement please do not try this at home is more of a marketing ploy than safety warning but in this case be warned, no normal car is able to backflip and attempting such a feat will only lead to landing on your roof, while shortening your neck considerably, think frightened turtle..
French stuntman and Rally Raid world champion Guerlain Chicherit achieved the impossible stunt, leaping 12 meters straight up into the air, while flipping backwards only to land upright on the far side of a wall of snow.
After four years of intense planning and practice Chicherit and the Monster team built their ramp in the French Alps, an ample winter covering of snow giving a false sense of safety. When things go badly wrong it doesn’t matter how much snow you have.
The car itself is actually the Monster teams Dakar rally car, more closely related to a BMW X5 than a Mini, still the car looked the part flipping through the air.
According to the press release ‘The successful airbound stunt crowns an already impressive career in extreme sports for Chicherit. The 34-year-old is equally in his element on snow as he is behind the wheel of a rally car. Four times a freestyle skiing world champion, he has also won the French rally championship on two occasions. The Frenchman is also a veteran of the X-raid Team (which wrapped up back-to-back Dakar Rally titles in January 2013 with the MINI ALL4 Racing), having made his debut for the German outfit back in 2006. In 2011 Chicherit was in the driver’s seat as the MINI ALL4 Racing turned its first wheels in South America for the world’s toughest rally.’
In many ways performing a back-flip in a car is very much like teaching a brick to do gymnastics, with the exception that Chicherit succeeded. The impossible is like that though, the label only last till someone actually achieves it.
Reference:BMW Press Release
