Arjeplog, Sweden - It takes a certain level of insanity, even for an Olympic downhill skier, to strap on a pair of snow-skis, clip a rope onto a car and let it tow you at a speed that would get you arrested if you were caught doing it on the National road.
You also need an all-wheel drive tow-car that’s stable at silly speeds on hard-packed snow, and a long, straight test track in a place cold enough that the snow stays firm, even on a clear, sunny day.
Luckily for English downhill skier Graham Bell, all these things came together at Jaguar Land Rover’s Revi test centre at Arjeplog, inside the Arctic circle, on a balmy autumn afternoon with the temperature an ideal -28 degrees, and a long steel pole bolted to the back bumper of a Jaguar XJ Sportbrake AWD, so that he could ski off to one side and avoid the wheel-tracks of the tow-car.
The previous record was just over 112km/h - an intimidating target. Watch the video to see Bell’s run and find out just how much faster he went.