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Top competitors in the drifting world gather in Saariselkä

In the Frozen Ring Drift Challenge, professional drivers measure of one another on the ice. Although the main goal was to relax, a racing driver is always a racing driver when he puts on his helmet.

Saariselkä has a fantastic 570-meter-long ice karting track. Anyone can drive there, but in April, a group of the world's toughest drifting professionals gathered on the track for the Frozen Ring Drift Challenge invitational competition.

The idea of​​ drifting a go-kart on ice sounds very exotic.

“I had only driven go-karts in the summer before, and I couldn't imagine how you can drift with go-karts, but it's easier than I imagined. Absolutely crazy,” Latvian drifting professional Edgars Krogeris laughed at the spring 2024 event.

It was the first time a Latvian man had a kart in the drifting competition. And it was the first time he had driven on ice!

“I got to drive an ice kart and snowmobile for the first time. Now I can tick some things off my bucket list.”

Also known as rally-driver Kalle Rovanperä's second sport, drifting is probably the fastest growing motor sport in the world right now. For example, the Drift Masters European Championship in Poland attracted a crowd of 55, 000.

According to Tomi Mettälä, one of the organizers of the Saariselkä competition, the drivers respond enthusiastically to their invitations. Invitations to the upcoming event have been distributed in major competitions in Poland, Hungary and Germany.

“Lapland is considered exotic and interesting, and the combination of ice karting and drifting is something no-one thought of before. This is a nice gathering for the drivers and a chance to catch their breath before the start of the racing season.”

Competitors arrive at the location at their own expense, but after the plane's tires hit the ground at Ivalo airport, the organizing body and its partners take care of the rest.

“The competition format will remain the same, but the track profile will be slightly different, some new challenges will be made. We are also in talks about streaming the event, which was what several competitors hoped for last year.”