ROC, PAPER SCISSORS

Okay, no paper or scissors, but driving a VW T-Roc R on ice is just as tricky as playing that curious game of chance!

- VAISHALI DINAKARAN

Look deeper into the corner!”

My instructor for the day says this rather sternly, shouting above the engine noise of the Volkswagen T-Roc R that I’m driving on an ice track in Arvidsjaur, North Sweden. One part of me focusses on doing exactly what he’s asked me to, so I poke my head a little further, crane my neck into the long left-hander, and try to look as far into the corner as I possibly can. The trouble is the other part of me has begun to do some sort of grammatical flip flop, and I’ve begun to wonder whether one must look “deeper” into a corner, or “further” into a corner. I can’t make my mind up. But the fact that I’ve stopped giving the corner in question my undivided attention catches me out. I haven’t positioned myself properly at the apex, and now I’m sliding away somewhere, and then with a soft whump I find myself in the snowbank.