Zack Zevallos, the first Peruvian motorcyclist to achieve a backflip

Adrenaline has flowed through his veins since he was little. Zack Zevallos today happily remembers those times when riding a bike was his favorite activity. He was always struck by the speed, feeling that emptiness in his stomach and the nerves on his skin. Over time he had his first motorcycle and when he got on it he knew there was no going back.

At the age of 15, with a motorcycle modified by himself, he competed in his first motocross competition. He didn’t know it then: he had chosen his path. His parents were against it from the start. He scared them that his son would get hurt in each of those jumps. Despite this, Zack, oxapampino by birth, continued.

After many years in the world of motocross, with falls and fractures in between, Zack came to freestyle motocross. A freestyle modality where motorcyclists perform stunts in the air. Zack Zevallos is a pioneer in Peru, in that sense. He has done various shows to make himself known, but above all so that people admire this risky sport.

Being a relatively new modality and without many pilots in Latin America, it caught the attention of athletes from other countries. In the midst of a pandemic and with all motocross activity stopped, the Mexican rider Cristian Becerra invited Zack to spend a season in his country to perform shows and events. He pleasant experience that opened his eyes.

In this way and after three months on tour, the Peruvian trained with the well-known Mexican team ‘Freestyle Masters’, who have the best ramps and bikes. Conditions to fulfill his dream: do the backflip trick, a pirouette in which the motorcycle must make a complete turn.

Back in Peru, at his farm in Oxapampa, he set up a track, prepared a ramp and got his motorcycle ready. In honor of the land where he was born, he was eager to try it August 30 of last year, on the anniversary of the city, but that day it rained since dawn, the sky was dark and full of clouds, so he had to postpone it until the next day.

“The 31st was a magical day for me”, he tells us, stunned. The first attempt did not go as he would have expected, after a bad move he released the motorcycle in the air and it fell on his leg. But the pain didn’t stop him. He steeled himself and went back up, tried the ramp two more times and on the fourth try he accelerated and accomplished the trick of his life.

Zack Zevallos became the first Peruvian to achieve the backflip and the seventh in Latin America. Almost a year after that moment, Zevallos remembers with emotion that August 31 where all the effort was worth it. “I apologized to my parents for everything I had done these years,” comments excited and sorry at the same time.

Zack is part of the ‘Zetatres Poster’, a recognized motocross team in the country. His goal: polish new talent and why not reach the ‘X Games’. A few weeks ago, Zack and his team embarked on their first national tour in which they will visit ten cities in Peru. This tour began in the last week of June, with a charity show at Agua Dulce beach where they collected 1.5 tons of clothing and shelter for the department of Ayacucho. Compete and help is the mantra.

Every time Zack Zevallos gets on a motorcycle, he knows that his life is in danger, but it is the price for loving a sport like motocross. “There is always fear. I am not going to deny that there are moments where I have thought about throwing in the towel”, he affirms at 29 years old. But the reward of hanging in the air and watching the world burn from up there is not taken away by anyone.