Coulthard goes eyeball to eyeball with inverted air race pilot in latest crazy Red Bull stunt
Coulthard goes eyeball to eyeball with inverted air race pilot in latest crazy Red Bull stunt
GPFans Staff
Red Bull has pulled off some crazy stunts in its time but the latest contains a scene that has to be seen to be believed.
In a video entitled 'From Castle to Castle', 13-times F1 race winner David Coulthard takes to the 2011 title-winning RB7 on a scenic road trip from Prague Castle in the Czech Republic to Bratislava Castle in Slovakia.
Along the way, Coulthard encounters 2018 Red Bull air race champion Martin Šonka who flips his Extra 300 SR plane upside down, with the duo metres apart and going eyeball to eyeball.
“The great thing about this film is that it’s all real,” said Coulthard. “When the aircraft is just a few metres above the RB7 and upside down, that is real, that is the skill of Martin. It’s a professional right at the top of his game.”
Appreciably, the stunt was not as easy as it eventually looks. Šonka said: “We both have very limited vision out of our cockpits and for me to fly at such a low level and inverted, I more or less need to look to the front to be able to control the height of the plane.
"The driver also has to look to the front but because of the head and neck restraint F1 drivers use he can’t look up. So we solved the problem by placing a small mirror in front of him so he could see me and look to the front.
"It was incredible to fly in such a formation, plus I’m a big fan of Formula 1 so just seeing the car so close from the cockpit of my airplane was something really special.”
En route, Coulthard crosses Prague's Charles Bridge, drives through the vineyards of the Moravia region before heading onto Bratislava.
“I really enjoy the fact that I have the opportunity to showcase the Formula 1 car across different countries and here in the Czech Republic and Slovakia we’re on cobbled streets and dusty tracks and some beautiful scenery in the mountains," added Coulthard.
"It’s been incredible and Castle to Castle has been like a journey of discovery for me as well as a showcasing what a Formula One car can do off-track.”