Australian freestyle motocross star Robbie Maddison jumped the
279-foot wide Corinth Canal in Greece on Thursday, at a height
of more than 300 feet above the water.
Maddison rode his Honda 500 through a turn-filled approach past a pool,
across a soccer field and past a chicken coop to a speed of 78 mph on
Thursday. He accelerated up a ramp and flew across the canal and landed
safely on a mound set up on the other side. Maddison was 311 feet above
the canal's surface at the height of his jump, sponsored by Red Bull.
Maddison said it was difficult enough getting the approach right
despite the constantly changing surfaces, from grass to concrete
to wood to asphalt and then carpet.
He also had to deal with nerves.
"Jumping across the Corinth Canal has become in my mind a challenge
I just could not resist," he said. "This jump involved the highest
consequences I have faced so far, so the first obstacle I had to
overcome was my fear. I believe you have to take risks in life to
become wiser, and facing a challenge like this will help get me ready
for the next feat I will face. I am thrilled I managed to pull it off.
As you know, there is only one opportunity to get it right."
Maddison is best known for two death-defying jumps in Las Vegas as
part of Red Bull's New Year's No Limits series.
On New Year's Eve 2007, Maddison broke the Guinness World Record
with a jump of 322 feet, 7½ inches. A year later, Maddison jumped
his bike up 120 feet and landed atop a 96-foot high scale version
of the Arc de Triomphe at Paris Las Vegas. He then dropped 50 feet
onto a landing ramp and stayed on his bike, although he hit his
hand hard, causing a bloody laceration.
In July, Maddison did a no-handed back flip over the open span on
London's Tower Bridge.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
heres d Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NotrjliteBk&feature=player_embeddedSource
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/news/story?id=5069688
World Record Motorcycle Jump 2007