Adam Hay-Nicholls drives Jaguars sideways at speed in the sub-zero Swedish wilderness
We’re in Arjeplog in northern Sweden, 35 miles outside the Arctic Circle, driving and drifting on a frozen lake. It’s –27ËšC, but the adrenalin rush of these winter games keeps me warm. Studded tyres and 4ft-thick ice combine to provide the most exciting track I’ve ever driven on.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has snow ploughed seven courses, equalling 40 miles of track, and handed me the keys to a fleet of vehicles, directing me to drive as sideways as possible. The tracks comprise drift circles, slaloms and dynamic handling circuits, all individually designed to discover the power and agility of the machinery.
The trip includes three days of driving, with a travel day either side when you can relax and ride around on husky-pulled sleds. I’m on the advanced course, which involves more time in the 575bhp Jaguar F-Type SVR Coupé, a beast in any conditions. The price of this adventure is €4,250. By the end, you’ll feel as if you’ve gone from rank amateur to ice-driving pro.
The key to enjoying the driving and getting the best out of yourself is to be relaxed, but you’re not going to be that way if you’re at risk of a telling-off. The instructors recognise this. Both are professional racing drivers: Geoff Bowes is a calm, fatherly figure, quietly encouraging, and Zac Chapman (a dead ringer for Daniel Radcliffe) laughs off the inevitable spins.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 20, 2019-Ausgabe von Country Life UK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 20, 2019-Ausgabe von Country Life UK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds