Apparently, Top Gear-style races are still a thing, and that’s good. The latest race of this kind pits the VW Polo R WRC rally car driven by Andreas Mikkelsen against Norway’s downhill skiing champion Aksel Lund Svindal.
While Mikkelsen had to drive on the spectacular Lyseveien road in the southwest of Norway, which features 27 hairpins spread over 29 kilometers (18 miles), Svindal used the a more direct approach, going directly towards the finish line on his skis.
“The fjord, the steep mountainsides, the high snowbanks, the winding road – driving here is a dream,” said a Andreas Mikkelsen. At one point, as Mikkelsen tore down the hillside, Svindal jumped across the road, with the Volkswagen Polo R WRC driving under him at over 100 km/h.
“To pull that off, I had to plan the speed and timing of the jump perfectly,” explained Svindal. As there wasn’t enough snow to ski on further down the slope, Svindal hopped on board the Polo R WRC as a co-driver for the final few kilometers. Now that’s what I call having fun.