Luc Ackermann has spent the last decade or so pushing the boundaries of freestyle motocross and his latest project saw the German FMX star unveil never-before-seen tricks against the picturesque backdrop of Duisburg port, Cologne Cathedral and River Rhine.
Here is all you need to know:
– Ackermann launched his career aged 12 when he jumped the youngest backflip ever on a motorbike and followed up in 2013 when he joined the legendary Travis Pastrana on his Nitro Circus Germany Tour before landing the “youngest motorcycle double backflip of all time” in 2017.
– He became the youngest European Champion in 2018, World Champion in 2019 and made another breakthrough with 2021 wins at the X Games in Encinitas, California and Night Of The Jumps in Basel, Switzerland.
– With eight world records also to his name, Ackermann drew on his “Go Big or Go Home” motto for his next project and it became clear over the past one-and-a-half years of planning that they were as big as usual.
– 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.
– Ackermann revealed: “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.”
– To capture his lines on film, Paul Kuhn – one of the most talented FPV drone pilots – piloted a four-kilogram drone partly just a few centimetres away from Ackermann and his powerful FMX bike for thrilling footage.
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