One year ago, Bryce Menzies soared 379.4 feet over a New Mexico ghost town.
Red Bull is well-known for their gonzo stunts. From jumping out of a capsule at the edge of space to tearing up a ski hill in an F1 car, the energy drink company is never far from the adventure lifestyle spotlight.
On August 25, 2016, Bryce Menzies jumped his Red Bull sponsored off-road truck clear over an abandoned town in New Mexico, flying an incredible 379.4 feet. In doing so, he simultaneously set a record and acted out the fantasies of anyone who’s ever been stuck in traffic at rush hour.
To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the project, which was entitled “Bryce Menzies New Frontier powered by Pennzoil Synthetics,” one can now ride along with Menzies on his historic jump in a new 360° virtual reality video.
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The Red Bull team used a heavily modified, 900-horsepower Pro2 truck for the jump. In addition to making the massive suspension alterations one would expect for coping with the truck’s landing, the team also significantly altered the truck’s fuel delivery system to cope with the extended hang time and massive negative g-forces experienced when the truck slammed back into terra firma.
Even the truck’s weight distribution was changed. In a single passenger machine like a Pro2 truck, the simple presence of the driver puts more weight on that side of the truck. In a normal race, where jumps are present but rarely span more than 50 feet, that’s not such a big deal. When flying nearly 400 feet, though, that extra weight on the driver’s side could tilt the machine in that direction, leading to a potential corkscrew-type spin. To counteract that, the team added counterbalancing weights to the passenger side of the truck.