Red Bull make history in the ‘scariest’ of ‘circumstances’

Take a Formula 1 car and a BMX bike, aim them at one another, and what do you get?

An absolutely terrifying display of talent from racer David Coulthard and BMX biker Kriss Kyle in Red Bull’s latest stunt.

BMX biker takes the ride of his life over a Red Bull Racing machine

Far from being merely an energy drink brand, Red Bull has become a truly transformative player in the sport and stunt games, with the brand signing up impressive athletes and bringing those athletes together for insane displays of talent.

Most recently, Red Bull had BMX rider Kriss Kyle jump over a moving RB7 Formula 1 machine in what the athlete called “one of the scariest things” he’s ever done.

To pull it off, Red Bull fixed a custom-built kicker to the front of the RB7 and brought in David Coulthard to race it toward Kyle — who spent seven months preparing for the stunt.

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The “kicker” was a critical part of this stunt. Basically, it functioned as a ramp that Kyle used to launch his bike over, and it needed to be light enough for Coulthard to knock it out of the way after the stunt without damaging the RB7, while also being sturdy enough for Kyle to ride his bike over.

The operation was successful, making it the first time in history that someone has jumped a bike over a moving Formula 1 machine!

“It was one of the scariest things that I have ever done!” Kyle said.

“Hearing and seeing the car come hurtling towards me was crazy, but I just had to clear my mind and concentrate on what I needed to do to make it over.

“It has been a dream come true to achieve this feat.”

Kyle put in seven months of trial and error to prepare for the stunt, which went off without a hitch. Hailing from Scotland, he’s been on a BMX since he was 10 years old, making a name for himself thanks to both his stunts as well as his video editing.

“We like doing crazy things and driving a BMX bike at an F1 car was a challenge we thought we were up to,” said Greg Borrill, Red Bull Heritage chief mechanic.

“We put the wheels in motion with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, and Kriss and needed to make sure that safety was paramount.

“A lot of design work by Red Bull Advanced Technologies went into creating a bespoke kicker that Kriss could use to jump over the car and would enable the car to get out of the way safely. Overall, the stunt was nailed and it was amazing to see.”

While the stunt carried with it the spectre of danger, so too have countless other Red Bull stunts over the years.

Austrian skydiver Paul Steiner, for example, changed planes mid-air for a Red Bull stunt, while skydiver Felix Baumgartner made history for his 128,100-foot jump from the edge of space.

There have been plenty of stunts involving F1 cars as well, including Max Verstappen driving his Red Bull through the streets of Palermo, Italy; Coulthard taking a lap of the Circuit of The Americas before it was paved; Coulthard racing an upside-down plane; mechanics performing a pit stop in zero gravity; and Verstappen racing a car down a ski slope.

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