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I attended the AMG Winter Sporting (ice-driving) Academy
in Arjeplog Sweden for the 2nd time at the end of
January this year (2009). Last year I did it with the
launch of the new C63's and it was televised on speed in
their program "fire and Ice". Click here to view a low
resolution video of
Speed Channel's 2008 "Fire and Ice"
Danny Steyn sideways in the C63 Ice Taxi with four time DTM Champion Bern Schneider
as
Co-Pilot. (Photo by Dieter Rebmann)
The event
takes place just south of the arctic circle in Arjeplog
Sweden - it is covered with frozen lakes and temps drop
to 60 below freezing. The lakes are groomed every day so
you are on pure ice (like a Zamboni groomed ice rink).
Every week about 1,800 test drivers arrive to test
components / tires / cars etc. and all the WRC Rally
teams do their winter testing there.
The program uses
AMG vehicle including the SLK55, the CLK63, and the
potent new C63. In the pro course you also get to drive
the specially prepared "Ice Taxi". The instructors are
first class. The team leader is Reinhold Renger who was
our team coach in 2008. This year my instructor was an
great driver and great coach Roland Rehfeld. And my Ice
Taxi coach was Bernd Schneider, the four time German DTM
champion. So you can see the coaching level is
exceptional.
But the best aspect
of this program is that you are in the car at least 6
hours every day. In the basic course you share a car so
you end up driving for 3 hours each day. In the pro
course you are solo so you are behind teh wheel 6 hours
each day. This is the most seat time you will ever get
at any program anywhere in the world
If you are a motoring enthusiast, love going sideways
and enjoy the thrill of mastering a new skill, then you
need to listen up ........ attending this program in
Sweden is something you HAVE TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE, and
you should, do it several times if you get the chance.
For this year I
took a friend Tom Fowler, who with his company OPM
Autosports, prepare my Spec Miata car for SCCA club
racing. We shared a car for the "Basic" course, and then
I stayed on to do the "Pro" course.
VIDEOS
and PHOTOS
Videos
Below are some videos that
I took in a variety of AMG's (SLK55, C63, CLK 63 Coupe). They were shot
with a SONY HD single chip cam. This is the same video setup that I use
in my Spec Miata race car, but not having the roll cage makes it a
challenge to mount the camera. I ended up mounting the camera upside
down, attached to either the windscreen, the sunroof or the rear window,
depending on the car I was driving, using a simple suction mount, and
then flipped the video in Premiere Pro editing software.
The video size has reduced to
720x480 at 1024kbps for faster viewing online. Beware, the files are
still large at around 40 – 60MB each. You can click to view as the .wmv
files will
stream from my webserver if you have a fast connection, but you might find it easier to “right click >
save as” to download to your hard drive and view at your leisure.
I suggest you watch them in order as it shows the difference between the
basic and the pro course. (Basic = shared car. Pro Course = solo +
faster + "ice taxi")
Photos
BASIC COURSE
Friday Saturday and Sunday
(photos by AMG Photographer Dieter Rebmann).
Click thumbnails to
enlarge images.
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