Photograph: Richard Bord/Getty Images
Team Toyo racer Guerlain Chicherit is lucky to be alive after a sickening crash ended his attempt to claim the world record longest car jump.
Aiming to beat Tanner Foust’s world record of 100 metres, Chicherit flung his bespoke Mini off a massive ramp at the French ski resort of Tignes, hoping to leap the 110-metre gap.
Photograph: ©andyparant.com
However, just after halfway through the attempt, the front end of Chicherit’s mega Mini began to pitch down so much that, by the time he reached the landing ramp, the nosediving racer was completely vertical.
Landing bonnet-first on the ramp sent his custom-made Mini off-roader into a series of high-speed somersaults, with the battered hulk of metal eventually coming to rest on its side.
Predictably, the car isn’t in great shape after the ordeal, but how much is salvageable remains to be seen.
Guerlain Chicherit is no stranger to perilous situations in a car – he’s won stages of the Dakar Rally, been an official Citroën rally driver and holds the record as the first man to do a backflip in a car.
He’s also no stranger to the snowy regions of France’s Alps, having won the ski freeriding world championship four times, and twice on the trot.
Photograph: ©andyparant.com
Although the footage of his pirouetting car is confronting, the Mini’s chassis reinforcements and Chicherit’s full set of movement-arresting safety gear meant the daredevil was able to climb out of the wreck himself and walk to waiting emergency service staff.
Safety crews airlifted Chicherit to hospital for observation and a precautionary MRI, but Guerlain cleared all checks with flying colours.
Chicherit maintained his up-beat demeanour throughout his stay, writing great tongue-in-cheek posts like this:
Chicherit has kept quiet about attempting to break the record again, but we can’t really see him giving this up any time soon. What do you think? Let us know on our Facebook page.
