TVS Motors is already synonymous with thrill, considering that they have 35 years of racing history, and have, in the past few years, been making a mark in such events as the Merzouga Rally and the Dakar Rally!
Closer to home, Apache Pro Performance X, a collective of fifteen dedicated stunt riders from five teams across India have already been setting spectators’ hearts. The stunters, all TVS riders themselves, have been putting up spectacular shows. And these aren’t just some employees blowing off steam either. All the stunters are astride specially modified stunt-ready Apache 200s with extended frame sliders to keep both bike and rider safe in case of a crash (which is part and parcel of the event). The riders follow a carefully-choreographed routine which they all refer to from notes stuck on their fuel tanks, kind of like acrobatic pilots!
The Apache Pro Performance team had already set an Indian record in 2017 when they performed a continuous five-hour stunt show in Chennai, and were looking to better their performance by an hour and set an Asian record in the process. And so it was, with teams from Coimbatore, Bangalore, Jaipur, Indore and Delhi setting foot (or should we say burning rubber?) at Seasons Mall, Pune on Sunday, June 9.
The stunt bikers enthralled the audience with their skills and manoeuvrability on their motorcycles, pulling in crowds from both within the mall and without, and kept pushing the boundaries of gravity and coordination with doing both individual and synchronised wheelies, stoppies and burnouts one-handed, no-handed and even facing the other way! Even the rain Gods could not break the bond that the riders had made with the cheering crowds, as neither did the riders take it easy nor did the audience budge from their places when the clouds opened up and let out a deluge, doing their best to play spoilsport.
And after six hours of many (literal) ups and downs, the Apache Pro Performance team entered the Asian book of records. Here’s hoping they don’t rest on their laurels for too long!