Loet van der Putten from Handel is a real daring. As a bakingist, he has earned all his spurs in the sidecar ross, but recently he has also made the so -called backflip during special Freestyle shows with the Belgian driver Jason Vandaele. The pair goes over a ramp with a sidecar motor and then makes a backward somersault. “No, then I am not shaking,” says Loet (24), the only Dutchman who does this stunt work.
The roof goes off in the sports hall in Munich as Jason and Loet hanging in the air about eight meters high for a few seconds. The German audience folds their hands in front of the stunt on the sidecar. The backflipa backward somersault, is exciting and looks spectacular and dangerous.
“The first time feels very unnatural and it is very strange to experience,” says Waaghals Loet. “Of course there is a risk, but what is scary? The moment you fly in a bend during a sidecar of thirty engines, you also run a lot of risk. In my eyes, a controlled jump is less risky and therefore less scary. But it is indeed a special hobby.”
“You have to go to one
Loet ended up in the show world by Jason Vandaele. The Belgian driver was in 2019 with his fellow countryman Birgen Beernaert the first duo to make the backward somersault in a sidecar. Jason asked him at the beginning of 2024 to become his bakingist for the World Cup Sidecarcross and also took him into the stunt work later that year. “We are now the only team in the world that with a sidecar one backflip Makes “, Loet knows.” And I am the only Dutchman. “
In the meantime they have around twenty together backflips practiced and did a show twice in Germany. “Yes, those Germans are completely crazy,” says Loet. “It is a completely different world than the motocross. It is a whole spectacle and it is exciting in the beginning but also very cool. If you know you are ready, the tension is actually gone immediately. I am not shivering, say.”
Freestyle Motocross (FMX) is a spectacular form of motorsport where the drivers perform impressive jumps and daring combinations high above the ground. The drivers make the jumps from a ramp and then feed all kinds tricks out. The one who shows the most beautiful and best tricks wins.
“Both in a show and in the sidecar, it’s all about trust in each other,” Jason continues. “That is actually the only similar. For the rest, it is different as a bakingist. For the show, for example, you don’t have to have a condition and I even see freestyle men Smoking a cigarette in between. “
But the backflip requires a certain technique from the bakingist. “It’s about your position and a certain timing. It is a combination of pushing the legs and pulling the arms at the right time. It is really a feeling issue when you have to use it. You come loose and push the sidecar under yourself.”
“Actually, I am not at all such a showman and my heart lies with the motocross.”
On March 29 there will be another Freestyle Show in the German Maagdenburg, but he has to let Loet pass by an injury. More importantly, he finds it to be fit for the new sidecar season that starts in May. After the bad luck year 2024, the two hope for a better season.
“We go for a classification in the top five,” says Loet. “I am looking forward to that, because crossing is the best thing. That is really my heart, because I am not really a showman at all. But the motocross costs money and the show yield money so we will continue to do so.”
