Mad Mike and the massive Russian rally truck

Thursday, 22 November 2018

Kiwi drift champ Mad Mike Whiddett takes on multiple Dakar Rally winner Eduard Nikolaev in a massive KAMAZ truck. Just because.

If proof were ever needed that you can, in fact, drift anything, even if it is the size of an apartment block, then this video is it.

Featuring our very own Mad Mike Whiddett in his RX-8 'BADBUL' drift missile and multiple Dakar Rally winner Eduard Nikolaev in his utterly massive KAMAZ truck, the video is a masterclass in synchronised drifting.

And it also shows just how much more exciting it can be when one of the vehicles is in very real danger of being crushed by the other.

'Just because' is a good enough reason for most things, but particularly synchronised drifting with an RX-8 and a massive Russian truck.

According to Red Bull, the KAMAZ is nine times heavier than Mad Mike's Mazda and a single wheel effortlessly overshadows BADBUL, meaning that a single mistake from Nikolaev could have been very bad indeed for Whiddett

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But Nikolaev is used to that kind of pressure, because you can't afford mistakes in the Dakar, and he certainly doesn't make any here as Mad Mike gets BADBUL incredibly close to the massive KAMAZ.

Apparently the whole idea of doing this was first originally talked about between the two a year ago at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, where the pair joked about drifting head-to-head.

Fast forward 12 months and it's become a reality, with Nikolaev welcoming the Kiwi drift king - fresh from his Formula Drift Japan 2018 Championship win - to his home country of Russia for a unique challenge in the nation's northern capital of Saint Petersburg.

And we think you will agree - the results are fantastic!