► Stuntman surfs on a motorbike!
► Dirtbike ace Robbie Maddison
► Making waves on two wheels
When you hear petrolheads talking about surfing a wave of torque, it’d be a safe bet to assume they’re referring to the pulling power of their engine. But dirtbike specialist Robbie Maddison has other ideas in this new video Pipe Dream, just released and taking the internet by storm, racking up more than 7 million views in its first two days.
‘Maddo’ is the same guy who doubled for Daniel Craig in the biking scenes in Skyfall – and he’s now taken his bike to water for this film shot in Tahiti to promote the skatewear DC Shoes brand. Take one lightly adapted dirtbike – fitted with surfing waterskis and a rear tyre featuring elongated paddles – an ace rider, and the world-famous waves of Teahupoo/Papara in French Polynesia and you’re left with a four-minute spectacle of some class.
It wasn’t without its challenges. Maddison admitted to Australian news channel 7 News he thought he was going to die when he misjudged a wave in the final sequence of filming. ‘It picked me up and it slammed me, and the motorcycle drove into my back and I lost all the air out of my lungs. I literally had to give in the will to live. I gave up the fight. I gave in and surrendered and before I knew it I was taking a breath again… We all had radios and there was no correspondence. The helicopter was circling and they weren’t saying [to anyone on the beach] that they could find me. My wife was freaking out. [I] thought I was a goner.’
We’re glad ‘Maddo’ survived to tell the tale. Enjoy Point Break on two wheels…
