Yahoo Autos Axell Hodges Injured Practicing for World-Record Longest Motorcycle Jump
On Sunday, July 7th, freestyle motocross athlete Axell Hodges was supposed to attempt to break the world record for the longest motorcycle jump in history, as part of "Evel Live 2," broadcast live on History. Unfortunately, Hodges will no longer be able to attempt the record-breaking jump, after injuring himself in a crash during practice just a few days before the live TV event.
Hodges badly injured both ankles in a crash landing during a practice jump. While the daredevil avoided more severe injury, the crash puts him out of commission for Sunday's show, where he hoped to break the distance jump record of 378 feet and 9 inches, set by Robbie Maddison in 2011.
"Having a crash ahead of something you’ve been working so hard toward just plain sucks," said Hodges. "The team and I were making a lot of progress during testing and the distances we were approaching looked good for Sunday’s event. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in air and wasn’t able to adjust in time for landing. I’m shocked I’m not in worse shape and feel extremely grateful to have been able to get up from this crash."
The distance jump was set to be the grand finale of "Evel Live 2," a huge motorcycle stunt show kicking of History's Car Week by showcasing daredevil attempts to break world records. As part of the show, Hodges also intended to perform an Evel Knievel-style jump over 25 semi trucks.
A revamped version of Evel Live 2 will still air on Sunday, July 7th. Four-time X-Games medalist Vicki Golden will attempt to become the first woman to break the firewall record, crashing her Indian FTR1200S motorcycle through a series of flaming walls on live TV. The show will also feature footage of the crash that injured Hodges.
