QuickNick

Had to share this with you guys.


Trying to set up a new business venture of doing motorsport/roadsport inspired weekend breaks and holidays, and have been on a lot of fact finding/market research trips recently. My business partner is a Finnish guy who has rallied, and is in with the Finnish rally lot which means we can offer trips to go ice-driving with Juha Kankunnen, who is quite possibly the most insanely awesome bloke (and driver) you could ever wish to meet. When I asked him which were his favourite cars he ran through a list of cars off SEGA Rally that he won his WRC titles in...


'Oh, well the Escort RS cosworth was a great car, but then who can write off the Celica GT4 or Lancia Delta Integrale...I was lucky I raced the best cars in the world for over 20 years which one me 4 WRC titles..' This guy is the nuts.


Anyway being a Scooby man (although not having owned one for a while) I was completely dumb-struck when I saw brand spanking new 'Tommi Makkinen' Subaru Impreza rally cars! When Makkinen retired he started a company building WRC Spec Impreza's, however as they leave the shop they are 350bhp and it is up to the team who buys them to restrict them to group regs. Absolutely priceless to see the most famous Evo driver of them all switch to scoobies! He said it is down to the better balance caused by the position of the engine in the chassis. Anyway, have laid out the event in pics below, including the scoobies, hopefully you will enjoy!





First we learned shift in weight, car movement and balance in the corners in a Tiguan



Then 2.0TDi 4x4 Golfs which handled much better



Then moving on to brand new Golf 'R20' rally car with 260bhp and 4wd, and then onto the Tommi Makkinen built Subaru Impreza 350bhp wrc spec cars.




















Then onto the client supercars who pay to have their cars transported over (the Lambo is my business partners investment though, and was my first drive in a Lambo, and on ice no less!):










Hope you all enjoy, any thoughts/feedback would be great, we are pretty much at operating level now, things always changing and developing but we have taken bookings to come on an Amsterdam cruise which is 9/4, and Scotland cruise which we are doing in the summer and alrady have 6 supercars booked. Scoobies however are obviously more than welcome to come and give them a run for their money! Also Nurburgring, Alps/Stelvio pass, Scotland (Loch Lomond) etc etc all trips are lead by my Finnish business partner in the Lambo, with me probably riding shotgun with him.


YouTube - Your own supercar on ice with Juha Kankunnen


Looking forward to hearing thoughts, why not get 10-20 of us on a proper weekend cruise lead by the Gallardo?

SirFozzalot

Don't forget, he drove for SWRT after Mitsubishi!

Simon C

And was part of the Subaru WRC allstar team too after retirement.

QuickNick

Ahh thanks for the schooling I completely forgot! After doing a trackday in a Makkinen Evo 6 I will forever think of him as 'Mr Evo, but not anymore I guess!

scooby L

Juha Kankunnen

One of my 1st rally icons when I was a wee nipper...

QuickNick

He is just such a top man, and has finally got rid of that 'tash. And to fans of the Kankunnen, there will be another Kankunnen WRC champion in about 6-8 years as he was training his 11 year old son on the scoobies and even at 11 he was 2 seconds of his Dad on a 2 minute course. Possibly the most unbelievable thing I have ever seen as he could barely see over the steering wheel at about 5 foot 2!

I filmed Juha whilst we were out there mucking around in the Gallardo on my mobile, for all to see as it was quite special!


Juha accelerating to 135mph on pure ice:
YouTube - Gallardo 200kph on ice


Juha showing off his car control:
YouTube - Juha Kankunnen, 4 time WRC champ in Gallardo

Here is a pic of Juha with my business partner and at the end of the training course:



We are the only people who can sell this course in the UK so anyone wanting to meet and train with Kankunnen on the Golfs and Scoobies I can make that happen!

StevoT2000

How much does all this cost??

rifleman

how many of my children do i have to sell to go????

QuickNick

Easier if you just check the ones you like the look of on the website, ultimate trips can be found here RGT

They all vary greatly in price, we like to do introductory trips (like Highlands trip) first so you get to understand the service value for money we offer but have a window shop and let me know your thoughts!

Note the Highlands trip is not on the website yet as so far it has been by invitation only however we are going to add it as we would like it to become a great value introductory trip for all to our brand.

If we get a group together we can bring the price down as we can rent a chalet of 10 rooms and that brings down the price of accomodation somewhat.

QuickNick

Oh, and I would recommend selling only the children with limited rally driving potential; you want to hang onto the ones with quick reflexes as Kankunnen can work with that....

QuickNick

Ok going to Scotland tomorrow to meet with various hotels and finalise the route, looking for the best drivers roads up there so if anyone has any suggestions at all then please dont hold back!

Nice hotels, roads, routes, restaurants, this trip will be taking place in the Summer so have some time and am 90% sure of what willbe happening but if anyone has had some really recommendable experiences up there then please feel free to share..

N

Dee33223

A couple of nice Scottish routes ive been* one is my homeward bound drive!


*Fettercairn to Dundee, via B974, Aboyne,Ballater,Braemar,Glenshee pass Blairgowrie. That's a favourite with many bikers in the summer. Perhaps finish in Alyth instead. I recommend this hotel Lands of Loyal, luxury Country House Hotel in the beautiful Perthshire town of Alyth, Scotland. as a a really special place to stay.

Ballater to Aviemore via A939, then Fortwilliam,Glencoe pass(amazing!!),Aberfeldy then finish in Pitlochry. Great long drive with a good mix of awesome Scottish scenery.

Just my two cents.

ahar

iTrader: (3)

Looks awesome, but I suspect the wife would notice £5k disappearing from our account when I naff off to Finland to hoon about on the ice!

QuickNick

Thanks for the advice, was fantastic, we have our route, think the B974 may be a tad too narrow for supercar boys but I know why Scoobies are so handy down there!

A939, Glencoe Pass were both heavenly. Will post some pics shortly...

Thanks again!

siannie

Looks superb... wish my bf and I had some spare cash (maybe I'll have to go into prostitution and sell the cars)!! dreamed of messing about on ice in nice cars since I passed my test!! Good luck with the venture

QuickNick

Ok, I have just covered 2,500km in 3 days with a total of 11 hours kip, and am completely battered.

However, I have discovered the best route and roads through the mountain passes and sweeping A-roads of the Highlands, and seen some absolutely gorgeous and great value hotels up there, so overall I had a very productive and enjoyable trip.

I must have passed about 50 Subaru's up there (none of which seemed like they were taking it easy) and I definately think it is perfect Scooby country.

Thought I would share some pics, ...Going again in May!
Please no detrimental remarks about the lack of Subaru badged machinery...

Pakolainen

Rallying in Finland is cool. and even if you don't rally, just driving in the snow is top. and we've had a bumper amount of it this year.

STeve - Helsinki

Dee33223

Glad you dig the Scottish roads. I recognise a good few of those places in the pics. Really amazing scenery when the crappy weather is not ruining the view. I'd sell my soul to drive a popping banging old Ferrari through those roads..bliss!
Yeah the b974 is a bit small and edgy for real supercars. But i have seen em. Hope the trip goes well for you. Nice work you are doing.

QuickNick

Thanks mate I really appreciated your advice for this trip. Will advise once we have sorted dates out for the trip and perhaps you could join the convoy for a day!

N