Biker jumps through two moving Scanias in precision stunt
Scania has supported a stunt in which Red Bull mountain biker Matt Jones became the first person to jump through two moving trucks. The setup used Scania's autonomous vehicles to ensure the trucks held a consistent line and timing as they crossed paths, travelling between 25-30mph. The jump took place at an airfield near Scania's HQ in Sodertalje, Sweden.
For the stunt to work, the trucks had to pass each other at a precise moment, leaving Jones with less than a second to clear the gap. Jones opted for Scania's self-driving trucks because the automated control systems could maintain a repeatable speed and trajectory during the crossover. The team carried out months of planning, rehearsals and safety checks before attempting the final run.
Matt Jones said: "I tried to turn my brain off and become autonomous, I had full faith in the technology and maths. I was completely locked in staring at the road ahead with the trucks in my peripheral vision, knowing that they were going to cross over each other and reveal the gap I was going to jump through. "When I got halfway up the ramp and the trucks had initially gone past each other, I felt huge adrenaline because I could see the target on the other side.
I instantly went from feeling numb to being flooded with adrenaline, it was nothing like I've experienced before. "After completing the jump I experienced so many emotions. I had a sense of relief, pride and accomplishment in myself, but also so much appreciation and respect for the Red Bull team and Scania to make all of this possible."
"You need to remember; he has just a blink of an eye to make this jump. With no margin for error, the team had to be so precise and calculated throughout. Thanks to our autonomous trucks, we could create a window of opportunity needed for Matt to do this kind of jump.
"Seeing first-hand the precision and safety that Scania's autonomous trucks and technology has brought to this challenge fills us with immense pride." Scania, Red Bull and PlusAI worked together on the stunt, which also acted as a showcase for Scania's autonomous-vehicle development. Scania has been operating autonomous mining trucks in Australia since 2018 and has been testing self-driving systems on European roads with PlusAI.