For years he was one of the best and most beloved stunt drivers worldwide, but this past weekend Chris Pfeiffer committed suicide. Pfeiffer lived to be only 51 years old.
We still remember it like it was yesterday, Chris Pfeiffer’s stunt show on the BMW F 800 R during “Die Anfahrt” by BMW accessory specialist Wunderlich in Germany, where he pulled off the most bizarre stunts in front of an enthusiastic audience.
Chris Pfeiffer started his career in Trial motorsport, where he became the German Junior Champion at the age of 15. Three years later he won the OMK cup, the German championship for B license holders. In 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2004 he won the Erzberg rodeo, the world’s toughest Enduro event.
Already in college, Pfeiffer had moved from Trial to Freestyle Riding, taking advantage of Munich’s parking lots in the evenings to refine the tricks of stunt riding. His masterpieces did not go unnoticed and he soon performed as a stunt driver all over Germany, thereby financing his studies.
In 1996, he turned his hobby into a profession, winning his first of four Erzberg rodeos that year. In the following years, Pfeiffer set several world records, such as the record for 33 adjacent people without a jump in 1997.
However, when he tried to improve his own record in 1999 as part of the Guinness Book of Records, things went wrong. Due to a technical problem, he fell and suffered several fractures.
In 2003, Pfeiffer won his first stunt driving world championship title. In 2004 he became European champion, after which he fully focused on stunt riding and in the period 2006 – 2010 three times European champion, twice world champion, twice the German Open, once the German championship, once the Stuntwars in Florida and once the Indoor Streetbike Freestyle Championship won.
However, there was also a dark side to the story. According to his wife Renate, he had been plagued by depression for a long time and had a severe relapse in recent months. Last weekend Chris saw only a way out and took his own life.
Chris Pfeiffer will be buried on March 26 in Trauchgau at 9:30 am, everyone who wants to say goodbye is welcome. Our condolences to family and friends with this tragic loss.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.