I’ve never been to Rod Millen’s Leadfoot Festival, but every time a new video from the event is unleashed upon the world, and I am introduced to a new incredibly crazy hillclimb machine from the antipodes, my desire to attend this event grows exponentially. This super fast “BRM Quadzilla” started out as a 500cc two-stroke Suzuki which is crazy enough, but then it got a GSX-R1000 swap for a mega 143 wheel horsepower. That’s enough to keep you up on the tiller and paying attention.
Everything about riding this quadbike looks super sketchy and extremely dangerous, but Ian Ffitch has been racing it on dirt and asphalt hillclimbs for nearly 17 years, so he’s had plenty of practice sliding it around, I’d say. Would I want to get on this thing? Hell no. I had enough injuries on a bone stock Yamaha Blaster when I was kid, I’ll avoid this particular brand of self-inflicted harm, thank you very much.
This crazy thing does it all, just watch the video below from Hillclimb Monsters for proof. From the start, Ffitch immediately pins the throttle for a hop of air at the first crest. From there, he’s simply sliding and flicking the thing around for the joy of the ride and to put on a good show. Wheelies? Not a problem. Lurid opposite lock slides? Easy peasy.
And watch how Ffitch moves around on the seat like he’s riding in MotoGP. Truly incredible.
Would you ride the Superquad up a sketchy tree-lined hillclimb? I’d be afraid of ending up with my face imprinted on one of those trees. This Ffitch guy is an instant legend in my eyes. While he’s been racing for years before I heard of him, he’s gotta be one of the greats. To get his quad up into the top ten at Leadfoot is a feat in and of itself.
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