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Drive Sweden's Classic Rally Roads |
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4x4 ice driving in Finland |
| HERO - the Historic Endurance Rallying Organisation - have just announced the ultimate winter rally: a 5,500km event into the Arctic. The Arctic Winter Trial will start in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Monday 3 March 2003 and finish 14 days later in the Finnish capital of Helsinki. "March is the best time for organising a snow event in the Arctic", said HERO's John Brown, who has just completed a route survey of the northernmost parts of the route. "There are almost 11 hours of daylight. The days are often bright and sunny, and the very extreme low temperatures are avoided. However, in the far north, daytime temperatures are still well below zero, and good crisp snow is assured". The route is being put together for HERO by one of the world's top rally co-drivers, Arne Hertz. During his years with Hannu Mikkola, Stig Blomqvist and others, he won no fewer than 19 World Championship rallies, including the RAC Rally no less than five times. Participants will cover about 400km each day, which for classic cars will include 50-100km of Regularity Sections, as well as special tests on frozen lakes and other venues. Schedules are relatively easy to enable less experienced crews to keep up. Highlights of the route will include the Swedish iron mining town of Kiruna, with its famous Ice Hotel, constructed each year from blocks of ice (including the furniture); the stunningly beautiful fjords of north Norway, right up to the world's northernmost town of Honningsvåg, Norway; Finland's famous winter resort of Rovaniemi; and Jyväskylä, home of the 1000 Lakes Rally. The locals have promised to plough the road to the North Cape for us. During rest days, participants will enjoy such Lapland activities as reindeer sleigh rides, snowmobile safaris, husky sledding, frozen lake saunas, a reindeer barbecue, and so on. The event will be run under FIA Historic Regularity Rally rules for historic and classic cars. There will also be a parallel Adventure Drive for modern 4x4s. If you are looking for guaranteed snow driving, this is the one for you! |
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HERO - the Historic Endurance Rallying Organisation
The Town House - Leigh - Worcester - WR6 5LA - UK tel +44 (0) 1886 833505 - fax +44 (0) 1886 833144 e-mail: [email protected] www.hero.org.uk |
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