At the wheel of the KAMAZ was Vladimir Chagin, six-time winner of the Dakar Rally. The feat was reported by the Russian team’s press service.
The joint truck-and-motorcycle jump was performed in Kolomna (southeast of Moscow) using perpendicular springboards. Preparation for the jump took 10 days. The springboard for the KAMAZ was 2.5 meters (8 ft.) high, the distance between the point of take-off and landing 12 meters (39 ft.). The KAMAZ had to cover this distance at a speed of 58 km. (36 mi.) an hour.
The springboard for the motorcycle was slightly less than 3 meters (9.8 ft.) high. The motorcycle sailed up into the air, reaching 12 meters (39 ft.) at its highest, roughly the height of a four-story building; the length of its flight was 21 meters (68 ft.). Chagin and Kolesnikov performed several simultaneous jumps with the springboards during which the motorcyclist executed various stunts as he sailed over the KAMAZ.
“For me it was a great honor to take part in a joint project with such an outstanding sportsman as Vladimir Chagin,” said Kolesnikov. “Plus this was an excellent opportunity to test the toughness of my nerves and my level of preparation. To jump over a KAMAZ coming at you at a speed of 60 km. an hour is psychologically and technically very difficult — instead of a landing you see in front of you an enormous nine-ton truck.”
“It was a very interesting project,” Chagin agreed. “The KAMAZ-Master team has never taken part in anything like it before. The truck performed perfectly and now that I’ve seen what Alexei does, I’m filled with enormous respect for his kind of sport.”
The idea of a joint project came to the two sportsmen when Kolesnikov was visiting the training base of the KAMAZ-Master team in Naberezhnye Chelny. The jump was considered part of Kolesnikov’s warm-up for the upcoming Red Bull X-Fighters championships, which will take place on 26 June in Moscow.
Vladimir Chagin saw the jump as another chance to test the toughness of his new truck ahead of the Silk Route Rally in September from St. Petersburg to Sochi.
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