KRISS KYLE admitted he put his parents “through hell” – even before he decided to risk death by “playing chicken with an F1 car”.
Scottish BMX rider Kyle, 33, took his daredevil exploits to the extreme, even by his lofty standards with his latest stunt.
Kriss Kyle landed the scariest trick of his careerRed Bull
The BMX rider successfully jumped over a Formula One carRed Bull
He had to nail the jump within 0.2 secondsRed Bull
That is because he risked his life by jumping over an actual Formula One car racing towards him on the track at Goodwood.
Kyle had the crazy idea two years ago and teamed up with sponsors Red Bull to make ‘Can He Hop It?’ happen, with the company providing Sebastian Vettel’s 2011 title-winning RB7 V12 model motor plus the precision timings, given to the rider by a beep in his ear.
After seven months of training, much of it centred around strengthening his legs including looking like a “nutcase” walking the dog in a weighted vest, the initial date had to be aborted due to strong winds.
So a back-up date was set at Goodwood, where – despite still some significant wind – Kyle had a 30-minute window and one take to pull off his monumental feat on the custom-built one-off titanium and carbon fibre bike.
Get it wrong, and Kyle could have died.
Kyle told SunSport: “This was probably the scariest one that I have done so far. So many things could go wrong.
“All I need is a bad gust, and I’m not gonna make it, or be too early or too late.
“You could like hurt yourself, or you could die. It’s so horrible but the feeling when you land it, that’s why I do it, for the sheer feeling of that, it’s like no other.
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“The scariest part was waiting, hearing the car getting closer and closer.
“I couldn’t just go whenever I wanted to go, I needed to go when the beeper told me to go, otherwise I’d be dead.
“I had to get from point A to point B within 0.2 of a second, which is faster than you can blink an eye.
“It was almost impossible to get my reaction speed right, and there was no room for error, absolutely no room.
“When you’re pedalling towards this screaming car, everything in your mind is saying, ‘Get out of the way. What the hell are you doing?’
“You’re playing a game of chicken with an F1 car.
“The car was doing 60km/h so about 40mph. Fast enough to do yourself in.
“You have to trust the Red Bull timings are spot on, which obviously they are. You are trusting your life with other people.
“I was prepared to really hurt myself but was really hoping it was gonna be landed.
I forgot to call my mum when I landed and she thought I was dead
Kriss Kyle
“Parademics were there. There were two ambulances, one for me and one for the driver.”
Kyle got into BMX-ing through his older brother and moved out of the family home in Stranraer at 14 without any qualifications, sofa-surfing 100 miles away in Dumbarton as the police tried to take them to court over his non-existent school attendance.
Then unbeknownst to his parents, he spent a year illegally living in the Unit 23 Skatepark – with rats for housemates and sweets for meals.
Kyle explained: “It was like super, super scary being in there by yourself.
“It was like a horror movie.
“F***, the amount of s*** I’d hear in there. I hated it.
“I lived there for a year by myself. One night I remember a rat ran over me. No joke, it was the size of cat. F***ing horrible.”
Kyle admits he has put his loved ones ‘through hell’ with his daredevil exploitsRed Bull
He celebrated his Goodwood stunt with his teamRed Bull
Kyle spent seven months in training for the stuntRed Bull
He used a bike specifically designed for the occasionRed Bull
The horrendous conditions did not dampen Kyle’s desire for riding, though, and sponsorships started to follow – firstly providing free kit before eventually funding his thrill-seeking career.
And it has certainly given him – and his loved ones – some hair-raising moments through the years.
Kyle, who has escaped relatively unscathed by only breaking his ankle, toes, ribs and thumb, added: “It’s my job to think of these crazy ideas that no one’s done before.
“I skated in a floating skatepark 2,000ft in the air in a hot-air balloon and jumped out of a helicopter on to the top of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.
“I put my mum and dad through hell. I actually do.
“After the F1 car, my mum called me and was crying when I told her that I’d done it.
“When I’d done the skate park in the sky, she was crying then as well. I forgot to call her when I landed and she thought I was dead.
“I put my wife through hell as well. And I’ve got a 16-month-old son now as well.
“I’m not making it easy on anyone or myself but they’re super proud of me.”
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