Epic Red Bull Airplane Stunt Wouldn't Have Been Possible Without A Rimac Hypercar

One that featured a high-performance monoplane, piloted by Red Bull athlete Dario Costa, landing atop a moving train and taking off again immediately after.

Rimac Hypercars Used As Real World Moving Targets
A 2,107-horsepower Rimac Nevera R, and its slightly less lunatic 1,1914 hp Nevera sister model, were used across a three-day test program at Pula Airport, Croatia, in the build-up to the record-breaking attempt. While the comparisons between a 267-mph, sub-5,000-pound all-electric hypercar and a 200-plus ton diesel locomotive are admittedly few and far between, both Rimacs gave Italian pilot Costa – an official Red Bull athlete since October 2013 – the chance to hone his approach speeds and nearly blind descent with two real-world moving targets.

Bear in mind, during the actual landing attempt, Costa had only a 50-second window to land on the moving train container and take off again while cruising at near-stall speeds of around 54 mph. What better vehicle to use for this kind of precision work than a hypercar that can hit 60 mph from standstill in 1.66 seconds and has 1,786 lb ft of immediate torque at its disposal?

“This project is the perfect expression of what Rimac stands for. Dario needed to train something that had never been done before, which meant there was no established method and no existing solution. Our hypercars gave him a real, moving, high-speed reference point; something only a handful of vehicles on the planet could provide at that precision and speed. When you are pushing into completely unknown territory, you need tools that match your ambition. We were proud to be part of that.”
- Mate Rimac
Sadly, footage of the record-breaking attempt has not yet been revealed, though Rimac’s official statement does confirm that the stunt was executed successfully on a 2.5-kilometer (1.55-mile) stretch of railway track in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey, on February 16.

Rimac Engineers Also Built A Bespoke Seat For The Plane
Interestingly, as well as providing the real, moving, high-speed reference points for the three-day test, Rimac’s engineers also developed a bespoke seat for Costa for the attempt. One specifically designed to reduce fatigue and offer maximum comfort and stability during those high-pressure maneuvers. Moreover, Rimac’s engineers are also said to be working on the “aerodynamic optimization” of Costa’s already modified, Zivko Edge 540 monoplane for use in upcoming projects, though, teasingly, no further details have been provided.

Incidentally, while this is the first official collaboration between Red Bull and Rimac, Dario Costa’s record-setting effort is not the first time the two brands have been part of a high-profile stunt together. Back in 2023, as part of a project for CarWow, Red Bull’s 2012 Formula 1 World Championship-winning RB8 single-seater took on a 1,914 hp Rimac Nevera and an early doors McMurtry Speirling – production for which has officially started – in a quarter-mile drag race. No spoilers, obviously, but the result is closer than you might think.