OzRacingWrap

Five Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia drivers have swapped Australian race tracks for frozen lakes in Finland over the past week.

In temperatures falling to minus 32 degrees, Jonny Reid, Daniel Gaunt, Max Twigg, Paul Kelly and Marc Cini have taken to the frozen lakes of Ivalo, Finland, for the three-day intensive Porsche driving program, Ice-Force (February 02-04, 2012).

Located 300 km north of the Arctic Circle, Ivalo is home to the Porsche Driving Experience Center where the Porsche drivers were rewarded for their efforts in the 2011 Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia season.

For Gaunt, Reid, Twigg and Kelly, the adventure was the drivers’ prize for finishing in the top three in either the Professional Class or Elite Class in the 2011 Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia season, which included return Business Class travel to Finland.

Gaunt, who finished third outright in the 2011 Carrera Cup season, said Ice-Force was the perfect way to celebrate his top three finish in the Professional Class last year.

“The trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity and an unbelievable prize,” said Gaunt.

“Ice-Force was a huge learning experience as it’s such a unique discipline driving with spiked tyres on ice; you have to be gentle with everything, which is completely different to driving a Carrera Cup car in Australia.

“It’s obviously pretty special driving these cars on any occasion, but especially on ice in Finland.”

Over the three-day Ice-Force program, the Carrera Cup drivers experienced four separate Porsche models – the Boxter Spyder, 911 Turbo (Type 997), 911 Carrera 4S (Type 997) and the new 911 Carrera S (Type 991).

Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia champion Craig Baird was unable to attend the trip and instead sent his 2012 team manager Karl Batson.

The season opening event for the Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia is the Clipsal 500 Adelaide on March 01-04, 2012.