Being a fan of both Mercedes-AMG and IWC, I had great expectations regarding the AMG Ice Driving Challenge, and they only increased after I read the weekend’s programme: three days spent driving Mercedes-AMG cars on a frozen lake in northern Sweden while wearing IWC watches. What could be better?
Knowing the event was taking place in northern Sweden, I checked the weather forecast for Arjeplog, my destination, and was surprised to see daytime temperatures between –15 and –20 degrees Celsius. This heavily influenced my packing for the event: I would need plenty of warm clothing as well as my IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “150 Years”.
Warming up
The first part of the programme started straight after my arrival at the AMG Lodge in Arjeplog. We had to take the shuttle bus to the lake for some warm-up training, to give us an idea of what was in store for the following days. We all agreed that when it came to driving a car with more than 500 horsepower in freezing conditions, extra practice couldn’t hurt.
The following day we had some driving lessons, as the next part of the programme would require us to learn the technique of drifting on the ice. Our teachers were Christian Hohenadel, a professional racing driver from Germany, and former racer Bernd Schneider, one of the most successful drivers in German history.
An adult playground
Once we had learned to drift, we went on to one of the 11 tracks on the lake, with four different vehicles to choose from: the Mercedes-AMG A 45, C 63 and E 63 S models and the most powerful of the four, the Mercedes-AMG GT S.
I found the C 63 the easiest to manoeuvre, since the size and weight of the car were best for my driving style. But one of the highlights of my trip was driving the GT S. The acceleration, the sound of the twin-turbo V8 engine producing its 522 horsepower and everything else that car had to offer just made it so much fun to drive.
When two passions meet
We had small breaks from driving to mingle and talk with the other participants. We quickly established two passions which we all shared – cars and watches, especially IWC. The other participants were wearing IWC Aquatimer, Portugieser, Portofino and Pilot’s watches, and the model that most caught my eye was the IWC Portugieser Yacht Club Chronograph in 5N gold on the wrist of Bernd Schneider.
As the founder of Daily Watch on Instagram and the social network for watch-lovers, 8past10.com, I am lucky enough to get invited to events all over the world, yet this trip with IWC and the AMG Driving Academy was by far one of the best and most unforgettable.
Thank you IWC and Mercedes-AMG.
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