Working my tail off on getting ready for Safari Rally at the minute. I’m blogging for Race4Change and Tuthill Porsche, reporting the adventure as we try to bring Björn Waldegård home in first place: the first person ever to win Safari in a Porsche.
There’s a big splash on the rally in this month’s Total 911 magazine, featuring pics by yours truly, and Safari Rally press pics taken by one of my heroes: the great Reinhard Klein. It’s a fun feature, with quotes from Björn and some of the fascinating history of Safari in there also.
The rally runs from November 19th to the 28th, after which I’ll be looking for something new to occupy my time. Tuthill Porsche won’t be short of work: they’ll be off to Ice Driving camp in Norway for their 2011 season of Classic Porsche Ice Driving camps. Tuthill’s latest ice driving video has just been released – here it is:
Everyone knows Norway has the highest cost of living on the face of the planet. When it comes to winter sports, you soon see some value in return. Tuthill Porsche Ice Driving is based on a frozen lake just outside Geilo, Norway’s “biggest retreat destination for health and wellness”. Tuthill’s Ice Driving School is based here because it is the best place to work at the level Richard Tuthill sets for the experience.
“The ice here is over a metre thick,” explains Richard Tuthill. “We can be on here safely for months at a time, with no fear of falling through or running out! Ice is the best surface to study car control on, as it offers so little resistance: you can feel everything the car is doing in minute detail. You’ll never learn more about handling a 911 than on ice, and Norway guarantees those conditions, near comfortable winter sports resorts capable of catering for the most sophisticated tastes.
“There would be little point to setting up shop in a sub-optimal location. Yes, it means the Tuthill Ice Driving school costs money, but everyone who does this tells us the rewards more than outweigh the cost, and many graduates do the training more than once. After all, where else can you drive a competition-winning Porsche 911 rally car at 100mph in safety, knowing you are supported by one of the best teams in the business?”
Whereas other ice driving courses run one or two cars: a Porsche and perhaps an ageing Subaru, Tuthill Porsche takes seven to ten full-on professional rally cars, built to run at the highest levels of historic rallying. The instructors are rally winners: British or European champions. This is not a fly-by-night operation.
Everyone wants something different from ice driving, so Richard prices packages on a bespoke basis. “Six or eight race friends coming to Norway ahead of an impending circuit racing or rally season can have a lot of individual seat time, but at a higher cost per head than say a group of eighteen enthusiasts from an Internet forum, coming for a one or two-day taster. It’s not always as pricey as you might think and we do our best to make it affordable. We want you to come.” Sound sensible? It is. Email richard@francistuthill.co.uk to find out more.
