Pastrana takes Hoonigan's Gymkhana series to Australia with 'Aussie Shred'

Hoonigan has released the latest installment of its long-running Gymkhana series, Aussie Shred, which sees Travis Pastrana tear through Australia.

Beginning in the outback and ending in Sydney, via a stop at the Bathurst 1000 Supercars race, the video is the third to feature Pastrana – this time driving the Subaru Brataroo 9500 Turbo, a car developed specially for the video based on a 1978 Subaru BRAT.

The car, built by Vermont SportsCar, is powered by a 670 horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder Boxer engine derived from VSC’s rallycross program, which has a redline of 9,500 rpm – which it hits plenty of times throughout the 11-minute video as it jumps and slides across Australia. Power goes to all four wheels via a six-speed sequential transmission from SADEV, with the car’s construction comprising an all-carbon fiber body – featuring active aerodynamics – draped over a WRC-spec steel roll cage.

“The Brataroo is hands down the craziest Gymkhana car we’ve ever built,” said Pastrana. “Every part of this car was designed to take the abuse we threw at it while making this film. From hanging two tires off a pier to flying 160 feet across a 10-story deep canyon gap over a road train. Skimming across a deep lake and scaring myself every step of the way.”

There are a number of cameos in the video, with 2024 Supercars champion Will Brown partaking in an impromptu drag race with Pastrana down the Conrod Straight of the famed Mount Panorama Circuit after Pastrana gatecrashes Australia’s biggest motor race. That sequence also features a brief glimpse of the new Toyota Supra Supercar which will be campaigned by Walkinshaw Andretti United from next year. 

Former Subaru World Rally and Global Rallycross/Americas Rallycross driver Chris Atkinson also appears, as does two-time Dakar Rally winner Toby Price, action sports athletes Jaie Toohey, Ryan Williams, and stunt performer and former Nitrocross Baja Bug racer Jim York.

Aussie Shred comes after Hoonigan previously attempted to film Gymkhana Nine in the country with Ken Block. Australia's so-called 'anti-hoon' laws meant that they were unable to get the project off the ground at the time, leading to it eventually being filmed in Buffalo, New York instead with Block’s Ford Focus RS RX World Rallycross car. In fact, Aussie Shred features a nod to the ninth film, with Pastrana recreating Block’s iconic over-the-edge slide as he hangs a wheel (and a little more) over the water in Sydney Harbor.

“Australia had long been at the top of the list of potential Gymkhana film locations.” said the film’s director Brian Scotto. “Ken Block and I attempted to shoot Gymkhana Nine there, but were met with a resounding no, because of the climate of anti-hoon laws at the time. 

“A decade later, when we reapproached the Australian government, we were met with open arms. This combination of the unfinished business we had down under and this being Pastrana’s last film in the series, not only makes it very special to me, but also put the pressure on to push the limit of what we could do both in the car and behind the camera.”

Pastrana’s third appearance in the Gymkhana series follows Gymkhana 2020: Pastrana Takeover (featuring the Subaru WRX STI "Airslayer")and Gymkhana 2022: Pastrana Goes Berserk (featuring the Subaru GL "Family Huckster"). Pastrana’s two previous Gymkhana rides were also built by Subaru’s American factory racing partner VSC, which initially had a deal to build three cars for three videos.