Ken Block’s epic Gymkhana videos have become an internet staple. But the shoe magnate turned racing driver isn’t the only one filming extreme stunts to entertain the online masses.
Meet Tyler Witte, who decided to set up his own Ken Block-style video using a first-generation Subaru Impreza that he modified himself. Witte is a stunt driver who previously worked as a fabricator for race teams, and has even done a bit of rallying himself, according to Speedhunters. The cost of rallying ultimately proved prohibitive for Witte, so he took his motor sports passion in a more unorthodox direction.
Witte demonstrated impressive skills both in turning his Impreza into a tire-smoking stunt machine, and in doing awesome things with it. His video is full of jumps, close calls with obstacles, and lots of sideways action. It’s also got a bit involving heavy machinery that Block himself probably wishes he had thought of. Naturally, this all falls firmly into the “don’t try this at home” category.
Block brings a large production crew to his Gymkhana video shoots, but Witte could only rely on a few helping hands. He spent five 16-hour days at an equipment yard in New Jersey working with a small team to build obstacles, then spent two days shooting. Mechanical issues prevented him from getting all of the footage he wanted, so additional filming was done at a second location. All of that resulted in the roughly four-minute video you see above. No one said achieving internet fame was easy.
Block’s first Gymkhana video was actually just a filmed pre-race practice run, but the videos have gradually become much more elaborate. Perhaps Witte will find different places to take his videos as well, so that we’ll all have two sources of insane stunts to check out on YouTube.
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