In the past, all stunt drivers needed were brass balls and a pinned throttle. Now, vehicular stunts are a little more complicated than that.
Yesterday, MINI shared its latest short film, titled, "We've Landed: Daredevil Chicherit's Full MINI Backflip." As the label on the package describes, MINI built a rally car from the ground up specifically perform an unassisted full 360 degree backflip. Unlike Hot Wheel's double loop-the-loop in 2012, no inverted track was constructed for the stunt.
Sponsored by Monster energy drink, the stunt was held at the French Alps ski resort of Tignes. 34-year-old French rally driver Guerlain Chicherit strapped himself into the Mini Countryman and worked out with the team that the rally car must hit the 25-foot quarter-pipe at exactly 37 mph. Too much and the Countryman will over-rotate and land on the roof. However, if it's too slow, then the Countryman wouldn't have enough momentum to clear the platform.
Despite the outrageous challenge, Chicherit is a true professional and successfully nailed the stunt, becoming the first person to successfully execute a backflip over a gap in a car.
"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," said Guerlain Chicherit after the stunt.
"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.
"When you attempt something nobody has ever achieved before, the stress is really high but the only way is to just try it."
Be sure to check out the rad backflip in the MINI video below!
