Learning to do the Scandinavian flick on a frozen lake near the Arctic Circle
You’d assume a frozen lake is no place to hone your rally technique: It’s -25°C, you’re dressed like a bear, and forget walking, it’s so slippery that standing is difficult. Driving around the big oval track on the lake is an exercise quite lacking in sanity. But that’s exactly what we’re doing as former European rally champion Jochi Kleint watches us from the outside, screaming instructions into his radio, tutoring us on car control: “Car number 8, give gas, give gas, now catch it, catch it!”
Get to 60-odd kmph, off the gas, turn into the corner, wait for the tail to come around, resist the instinctive reaction to catch the slide, let the tail slide out, more, more (Jochi’s on the walkie screaming patience, patience, patience) and as the nose points to the apex give it gas, correct the slide and exit gracefully. It’s not that difficult; all it needs is seat-of-the-pants sensitivity, to judge how much the tail is sliding out by, and how much steering lock to apply. Over-correct and the tail snaps around the other way, too little and the car will spin. It gives you great feel, sensitivity and precision, how to judge available grip and make the most of it.
(This story appears in the 16 July, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)