AUTOMOTIVE
We were thankfully informed that the ice was just
over 60cm thick, allowing the mammoth snowplough
to get to work in the dead of night perfectly crafting
the GPS mapped circuits. Although the ice depth was
indeed thick enough to drive on, this was artificially
created by drilling the ice, allowing the water to
seep up the hole and re-freezing on top of the ice
plate. This meant that if you venture too far off the
circuit into the deep snow the underlying texture was
alarmingly slushy, much to the amusement of the
instructors as they briefed us for the day ahead.
After a comprehensive safety briefing, we were
straight out onto the ice for day one of three. To
ease us in we began with the Range Rover Sport.
The heavier weight of the vehicle and the higher
centre of gravity would allow us to feel for the roll
of the vehicle. This was important to ensure the car
maximised the grip from all four wheels as the aim
was to keep the car stable whilst drifting through a
four-cone slalom. Within a few runs we were giddy,
and had huge grins across our faces. We began to
feel comfortable with guiding the vehicle where you
wanted it to go, rather than frantically attempting to
over correct. Patiently waiting for each tire to find grip
while sideways.
As the day progressed, we moved onto the Range
Rover Velar on the slalom course as the sun went
down. A serene pink glow flooded over the ice,
brightly illuminating the snow smoke that all of us
were kicking up. This was our first time on a circuit
and with the Range Rover Velar’s smaller size we
were able to fine tune our new-found skills.
We rounded off the day by finishing in the Jaguar F
Pace. This was to be driven on a much faster circuit
which encouraged huge sweeping drifts. Before
we had a chance to take stock of the situation and
get into the swing of the circuit, we all got to see
just what happens when your mind tricks you into
believing you are Sébastien Loeb. One of our fellow
drivers had ploughed straight through the snowbank
into the centre of the circuit, deep into the slush.
What we didn’t realise was that this would soon
become the norm as we pushed to find the limits…
of our abilities of course, rather than the cars! Rescue
was never far away, as being a Jaguar Land Rover
experience, there was always a Land Rover Discovery
waiting to leap into action.
34
The Art of Luxury
Issue 37 2019