Just after dawn on a Saturday in September last year, professional race and stunt pilot Dario Costa flew his raceplane through the narrow confines of two enclosed auto tunnels outside Istanbul.
In near-darkness and close to the concrete walls, the Italian ace managed a tricky takeoff inside the first tunnel, flashed through an open-air gap and then continued his 245kph flight through the second tunnel, flying less than 1m from the asphalt.
It took a crew of 40 to set up and co-ordinate the stunt, most of whom waved and cheered, “Pasta la vista!” not expecting to see the plane or pilot in one piece again.
But Dario was no Turkey. He gobbled up the distance and zoomed out the other end like a tapeworm from a poopchute, as pleased as punch with whole thing.
Maybe they should change the name of the city to IstanRedBull.