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Bickers Action does it again |
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As the breathtaking finale for Top Gear Live’s shows in South Africa, Bickers Action created a death—defying indoor car stunt, which saw the show’s mysterious stuntman, Stig, ride through an 8m tall, 360-degree loop-the-loop in a modified dune buggy. The world record stunt was first attempted at the opening of the Top Gear Live World Tour in London in November last year. The BBC TV show is theoretically about cars, but actually more about presenters Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, who’re hilarious together in ways that are guaranteed to offend earnest feminists and environmentalists. A global phenomenon, Top Gear is allegedly the world’s most illegally downloaded TV series and has a worldwide audience of over 350 million. They launched the live event format in 2008. Stig, who never removes his white helmet, speaks, or reveals his true identity, literally placed his life in Bickers’ hands for the Loop of Death. “The speed was very important,” says Bickers’ Gustav Marais. “If Stig hit it too fast, the g-forces would have thrown him out of the loop or he would have blacked out, and if he hit it too slow, when he was upside down, he would have dropped out.” Another complication was that the indoor space gave Stig limited time to slow down before running out of room. Stig used both a digital speedometer and a GPS device to ensure that he was at the exact speed, but Gustav says the margin for error was miniscule. “On the Friday night, he only just stopped in time. He actually nudged the barrier,” Gustav says. To prepare for the stunt, Stig had to practice in a stunt plane to condition himself to the g-forces. “Until your body experiences that kind of force, a doctor isn’t able to predict how your body will react, because I might handle it but you might not,” Gustav says. It was also important that the structure was strong enough to withstand the force of the car, so that the buggy didn’t push the loop apart. South African audiences were nearly robbed of the grand finale. Gustav says, “Top Gear Live originally dropped the loop off the South African leg because there wouldn’t have been enough time to ship it to Australia for the next shows, but right at the last minute, at the end of November, they decided they needed it for South Africa so asked if we could build another one. I quoted from South Africa, but they decided to go with Bickers in the UK. We could save them a lot on labour, but steel, which is made in South Africa, is ironically a lot cheaper in the UK.” Paul Bickers, managing director of Bickers Action, came out from the UK for the show, working with Gustav to oversee the rig in South Africa. Bickers first designed the stunt for another British car show, Fifth Gear, who performed it outside, with a Toyota Aygo driving through a larger 40 foot loop-the-loop. The Fifth Gear stunt holds the world record for the largest loop-the-loop yet. “Bickers actually got a professor from Cambridge to work out the exact speed,” Gustav says. Bickers, probably best known for their work on the James Bond 007 films, opened their Cape Town office in October 2009 when Gustav returned to the country after eight years with Action Cars, a prop and hero vehicle supplier based at Pinewood Studios in the UK. While waiting for the Cape Town Film Studios to open, Gustav’s set up an interim workshop in Killarney Gardens from where they also supply the latest in camera tracking vehicles. Since launching, stunt engineering and camera tracking vehicle specialists Bickers have worked with the likes of Gatehouse, Twin and The Big Picture Company on car commercials for Porsche, Peugeot, Toyota, Renault, and Ford, among others. “We’ve done them all,” Gustav says. “But I’m really itching for features, because that’s always been Bickers’ forte. I really want a chance to use our nitrogen cannons and our other specialist stunt equipment....” For more information, click here. Kevin Kriedemann What did you think of Top Gear Live and the Loop of Death? Comment below. | |||
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