KOCHI: Akash Bhakthan grew up watching his elder brother and friends perform stunts on motorcycles. It was compelling enough for the teenager that he started trying out stunts; first on bicycles and then on motor bikes.
Fast forward a couple of years and the 23-year old has now become the first Keralite to enter the Asia Book of Records and the India Book of Records for taking part in the longest motorcycle stunt show held straight for six hours.
The non-stop mass stunt riding show was organised by TVS Motors Company at Season Mall in Pune on June 9. A total of five TVS teams from Delhi, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Indore and Bengaluru, consisting of three members each, had taken part in the rare feat. Akash had represented Bengaluru-based Team Balance Point.
Talking about the event, the BCom student of Jain University said,“The stunt shows I normally do last for 45 minutes. But this one was for six hours and hence we had to undergo rigorous training.”From wheelie, stop wheelie, pillion thrill ride and 360-degree stoppie to synchronised flower burnout, suicideburnout, and a mega bike burnout, the participants managed to perform a range of bike stunts on their Apache RTR 200 4Vs.
“With just two hours left for the show to complete, it started pouring heavily. The ground was slippery and it was quite a risk for us to perform in the rain. However we continued the stunt riding and set the record,” he added.
It was after his Class XII days that Akash received professional training in stunt-riding, under Kozhikode-based ‘OutlawZ’ team."The team nurtured me into a professional freestyle stunt rider and provided me with opportunities to participate in numerous shows," said Akash.
He went ahead to take part in over 200 state and national level stunt riding events and has performed shows for companies including Mountain Dew, Honda and Hero.At the age of 19, this passionate stunt rider bagged sixth position among 64 riders across the country, at the XDL championship held at Buddh International Circuit in Delhi.
He has been attached to Team Balance Point for nearly a year and the group has trained army motorcyclists in Bengaluru, for their parade functions. “My passion is to turn stunt riding into an adventure sport in the country and create a larger audience for it,” added Akash.