There’s no record whether he had his shirt off at the time, but Russia’s President Vladimir Putin can add “test driver” to his lengthy list of heroic exploits and pastimes.
It wasn’t a sports car as such that Putin pedalled around the Sochi F1 circuit.
Rather it was an example of Russia’s new ultra-luxurious Rolls-Royce rival, the Aurus Senat.
The new luxo-barge would have felt like a compact to the perma-President though, being much smaller (well, sort of smaller) than the Aurus limousine he usually travels in. Developed with some help from Porsche, the Aurus Senat is powered by a 4.4-litre V8 producing 445kW of power and sending it to all four wheels.
Rather than some Kremlin-only statesperson-transporter, Russia has high hopes of marketing and selling the car to private customers; your average oil or shipping tycoons, those sorts of people.
In saying that it is destined for the private market, the Aurus is still, essentially, the spiritual successor to the giant Soviet-era ZIL limos that used to be seen ferrying communist leaders across windswept Red Square.
Putin’s passenger on his high-speed run around the Sochi track last weekend was Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
There’s no word, however, on whether the Aurus Senat dealer principal managed to get a few registrations in Cairo confirmed while showcasing his mettle behind the wheel.
On piste with Porsche
Being towed behind a performance vehicle while wearing skis sounds, if we’re honest, like the invention of some dudes in a Colorado college town (and the vehicle a Roush re-modded Ford F250 or similar).
Turns out though, that the possibly fatal pastime has pedigree and a name. And the Scandinavians started the whole thing.
Skijoring, as it’s known, began as a winter sport in Norway many decades ago. No internal combustion engines were present then; daredevil skiers were instead towed along by horses or athletic dogs.
By the 1930s, however, the automobile had become a firm part of the skijoring experience.
And in the Austrian resort town of Zell am See, enthusiasts became particular about their favoured marque for slicing across the top of snow: Porsche. From the 1930s until the 1970s, the Ice Race was a semi-regular event, involving many different cars, but lots and lots of Porsches.
We presume a swept-under-the-carpet incident might have put an end to things (no one is saying anything on the matter that we’ve been able to find), but for Porsche fans who want to see snow tyre-wearing 911s (and other models) towing skiers across a lake in the middle of winter: you’re in luck.
The GP Ice Race will return to Zell am See in January.
As well as traditional Porsche skijoring, there will be other rally cars skidding around on frozen lakes, towing fluoro ski-suit wearing extreme sports types.
There are, of course, plenty of horse-based skijoring events held around Europe each winter, too. That aspect of the sport has never gone away, despite it looking possibly even more dangerous.
But the sight of a Porsche 911 towing some maniac on a set of Rossignols at speed — and being able to claim that it’s in tribute to a historic event — seems like too good an opportunity to pass up if you happen to be in Austria in January.
Renault’s Ricciardo hits the wall ... literally
Usually known for his big smile and seemingly unshakable positivity, Daniel Ricciardo hit a bit of a wall at the US Grand Prix a week ago. Literally.
According to gossipy Red Bull F1 teammate Max Verstappen, Ricciardo was so frustrated at failing to finish yet another race in Austin (his seventh DNF of the 2018 season), that he punched a hole in a wall.
The irony here, of course, is that the Aussie racer’s woes lie squarely at the feet of Red Bull’s engine supplier. Um, which is Renault. As in the Renault that Ricciardo is heading to as number one driver for the 2019 season. Awkward…
Ricciardo’s impromptu room renovations were all for nowt anyway as it transpired, with Lewis Hamilton securing his fifth driver’s championship last weekend in Mexico.
This means the face-bejewelled geezer joins Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher as one of only three drivers in Formula 1 history to have amassed five championship wins.
All is not lost for Ricciardo though. After all, when Hamilton fled McLaren for Mercedes in 2013, it was seen by many as a risky move. McLaren had been dominant, and Mercedes was just emerging into a post Ross Brawn-era.
Ricciardo is joining mid-fielder Renault after several seasons of bedding-in its technology.
Could 2019 be a big year for Renault? Let’s hope it gets its engines sorted. Or at least invests in drivers’ gloves with reinforced knuckle protection.
■ Read more on F1, p21.