Quote from MAGGOT :

blah blah blah

Look at the spelling of gymkhana, MAGGOT, and you can CLEARLY see it's tongue-in-cheek.

Nor did I say I could do it. I KNOW I couldn't, but I might be able to, or I'd certainly give it a try if I had enough cash to buy the sort of facilities and equipment they have.

Maybe I should start a shoe company which sells badly made shoes to skateboarders and people with long hair... then I'd be able to build a WRC spec car and spend years and years learning how to drive it properly...

And Travis Pastrana, pfft, he's just someone who has no sense of fear. I ride bikes more then I drive, and I love him on a bike. Dude is a fruitloop, but the whole "rallying" thing just smacks of "Ohh, everyone's bored with me backflipping bikes, perhaps I should borrow old man Block's Scooby and jump over shit in it for publicity...".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7os4YmIs5c
Check the angles yo!

Quote from AstroBoy :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7os4YmIs5c

Check the angles yo!

nice.

can someone explain to me how his car could survive such a huge jump, when this ford escort couldn't even survive a jump half the size? they reinforced the whole rear end... it landed on the right side first, but somehow the left suspension is busted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUqk8Idcgcs#t=2m40s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f631N_HLfCo#t=2m12s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtWi0-ACkmQ#t=2m41s

Quote from brandons48 :

+1 to that.

Syfoon, have you EVER rallied in your life?

Four wheel drive, on some big airport aprons, with plenty of practise, its not as hard as a lot of people think it is, there are many people with even a basic sense of car control and feel who could easily do what he does.

I don't know about his exploits on bikes because I've never ridden a motorbike, but I'm pretty sure that he and Ken block are not god like rally drivers as some like to think.

Racing/Rally/Stunt drivers, or any other famous people, whether it be a footballers or musicians, are not gods, they're human beings just like you and I and with enough time and determination almost anyone can achieve anything.

A lot of you like to raise these people on to huge plinths of unachievable talent, thats the difference between them and the rest of us, they have the right attitude whereas other people don't and so never become great at anything.

Quote from bunder9999 :

nice.

can someone explain to me how his car could survive such a huge jump, when this ford escort couldn't even survive a jump half the size? they reinforced the whole rear end... it landed on the right side first, but somehow the left suspension is busted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUqk8Idcgcs#t=2m40s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f631N_HLfCo#t=2m12s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtWi0-ACkmQ#t=2m41s

This is actually a simple one to explain, it has to do with the landing of the angle. The planned jump took a lot of things into account; this is very evident while watching the angles clip above. You can see that he had reached speed, and feathered it to maintain that speed while launching. The hard part about the jump, as stated in my previous posts, was the making sure X speed was achieved and maintained for launch; after that it was down to gravity (which doesn't magically pull harder now and again). Of course, wind plays another role; and tends to cancel things of this nature.

That said, the Escort video showed them slamming down onto flat ground, the worst possible landing situation; which is why in extreme sports you find people not able to ride/skate/continue away from a landing when it is not on a ramp (after a big jump) because of the force from the impact; when landing on a slope it gets absorbed a lot easier than a flat. Hence, less damage.

Quote from tiptop :

Does this one takes enough balls for you sir?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQbrFKVBxwc

landed upside down, shouldn't count.

So fairly basic ballistics is high end tehnology now? then how did they aim the Ballsitas and catapults of old, I wonder?

It took balls of steel, but seems like a redneck having a brainfart after a case of moonshine.

Quote from blackbird04217 :

I'm not saying it doesn't take balls to do it, or that there is no chance something can go wrong;

But people need to remember this stuff is proven that it works. The risk is quite minimal, if everyone is doing their jobs correctly, and wind conditions are not severe- which they usually shut these things down when the wind is severe. That said, reread my first statement; it still takes balls, and there is still chances stuff go wrong.

I agree completely.