DIRT NEWS
ACKERMAN WOWS WITH THRILLING GERMAN BACKDROP
It ’ s fair to say that German rider Luc Ackermann has always had somewhat of an X Factor when it comes to FMX . Having spent the last decade pushing the boundaries of freestyle motocross after launching into renown as the youngest rider to perform a backflip at age 12 , his latest project saw Ackermann unveil never-before-seen tricks against the picturesque backdrop of Duisburg port , Cologne Cathedral and River Rhine . With eight world records also to his name , Ackermann drew on his “ Go Big or Go Home ” motto and with a full one-and-a-half years of planning put together a stellar performance on the Rhine . The 23-year-old from Niederdorla used the River Rhine for a spectacular ride on land , water and air , which included three world-first tricks . He first used the urban obstacles of Duisburg ’ s port as a freestyle course then , riding alongside the Rhine at full speed , he catapulted himself from ship to ship with a Tsunami Backflip to finish over a
25-metre gap between two moving cargo ships in front of Cologne Cathedral . For the “ Backflip Bonk ” trick , he jumped halfway backwards onto a container suspended 12 metres above the ground , touched the underside upside down with his rear tyre and completed the rotation . The “ 360 ° Sand Curtain ” - a lateral rotation around its own axis - was garnished by falling sand from an excavator shovel and the “ Tsunami Backflip ” saw him only hanging on by his handlebars . “ The transfer is special because we have two boats going at the same time and the distance from the jump ramp to the landing must always remain the same ”, Ackermann revealed . To capture his lines on film , Paul Kuhn - one of the most talented FPV drone pilots - piloted a four-kilogram drone just a few centimetres away from Ackermann and his FMX bike for the thrilling footage . It ’ s an amazing watch , but we ’ ve got to wonder how many bikes drowned in Ackermann ’ s preparation for the big day ...
106 KIWI RIDER