There are lots of sensible, practical, useful ways to ride a quad bike. Paul Hannam appears to have little interest in any of them.
On Saturday 12th September, the Devon stunt rider will be bringing his ATV Stunt Show to the Frome Agricultural & Cheese Show – which means quads will be flying over vehicles, racing head-to-head and, at some point, quite possibly travelling upside down.
Paul knows rather more about quad bikes than simply how to make them misbehave. He got his first at the age of seven, was teaching other riders by 15 and went on to spend 12 years racing on the South West Enduro and British Quad circuits. In 2010 he became South WestEnduro Champion, followed by third place in the British Enduro Championships the following year.
But racing eventually gave way to something considerably more theatrical.
Paul joined stunt-riding partner Kangaroo Kid in 2014, performing across the country before launching his own show in 2019. The racing pedigree is still there – it’s just accompanied by rather more airtime now!
At Frome, expect his trademark head-to-head quad racing with a stunt-show twist, huge jumps and the UK’s only multicar rollover quad, capable of performing up to four continuous rolls.
And then there are the vehicles he jumps over. Cars are apparently merely the beginning. Paul has cleared vans, monster trucks and even 30-tonne dump trucks – all without the reassurance of a landing ramp waiting on the other side.
It should make for one of those perfect agricultural-show moments when somebody says“he’s not actually going to…?” immediately followed by ‘Oh! Yes, yes he is…’
And when the engines finally stop, Paul won’t simply disappear behind the scenes. He makes a point of meeting spectators afterwards, and visitors can see the machines up close, talk to the riders and grab a selfie.
Paul Hannam’s ATV Stunt Show is included with admission to Frome Agricultural & Cheese Show on Saturday 12th September at West Woodlands Showground. Get your tickets from fromecheeseshow.co.uk
