Luke Gough launches his Honda TT bike off the jump in practice for the 2008 Springfield (Ill.) TT. This photo was taken before officials determined the jump was too extreme and leveled it off for the qualifying races and national. (Larry Lawrence photo)

Australian Luke Gough proves – 1) that flat trackers can fly too and 2) not all flat tracks are flat.

When riders showed up for the 2008 Springfield (Ill.) TT National they found a monster jump awaiting them. The jump launch was much steeper than normal TT standards. As a result some of the braver riders were doing Supercross-like jumps onto a flat landing area.

It wasn’t pretty. Over jumps in practice broke wheels, hubs and bones.

Officials leveled off the jump after a few rounds of practice making the jump more doable in real-world racing conditions.

A fearless Gough was one of the high fliers in practice. Check out the fans in the background watching the extreme height Gough reached in his launch.