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Today we drove from Slovenia to Austria and what a gorgeous day it was! Team Twinspark had an early start and we left at the head of the field from Maribor in Slovenia at 7.30 for an 11 hour day of fun in the snow. This early start proved to be a boon as the roads were covered with fresh snow, untouched by the heavy traffic of 100 rally cars. Driving in the middle of such a field you tend to get stuck in traffic when cars can’t reach the summit of a hill and roads are so narrow that overtaking is out of the question…

The sun was out and we could not have asked for nicer panoramic views, nor prettier landscape. The blue sky contrasted with the pure white snow, that we ploughed through for hours at serious speeds. We crossed the Slovenian-Austrian border around 9 AM and the main road was covered in snow and slush as we passed over the mountain range.

As the sun rose and purple orange colors painted the mountains around us, we realized we had a good opportunity to advance in the rankings. Joost navigated us through three regularities and two test over a 450 km stretch with a very good result, coming in 16th out of 35 for the day.

We arrived first at the test this morning at Zeltweg driving center and had a blast on the snow and ice, which made the track undrivable for most of the stretch. But the weather was great and the mood was good, so who cares!

Our second test took place in the dark on the Wachauring, a local rallycross track, and we had more virgin snow to devour. Being only the second team to run the track, we battled with a lot of deep snow. After a reconnaissance lap we put some aggression into it. But skidded across the finish line where we should have stopped astride.

Hopefully the photos and videos tell the story of a day where we experienced unique conditions and and gorgeous, treacherous driving roads.

The 911 just ploughed on where most other cars had to put snowchains. As it turned out, the rest of the field, behind us, experienced mayhem, as cars went off the road or blocked passage left right and center, allowing us a 16th spot in the day rankings!

Tomorrow will be even harder as we head for the Czech Republic.