- Snowboard lesson for Mercedes-Benz DTM driver Pascal Wehrlein
- Full power, as snowboard world champion Isabella Laböck prepares for Olympics
Pascal Wehrlein gets pre-season practice with a difference: The Mercedes-Benz DTM driver met up with snowboard world champion Isabella Laböck for a very special reversal of roles. Firstly, the parallel giant slalom world champion gave the DTM driver a snowboarding lesson at the Austrian ski resort of Leogang, and then Wehrlein showed her how a powerful car handles on snow and ice.
To that end, Wehrlein and Laböck took out a Mercedes A45 AMG as part of the Mercedes Winter Drive Experience at the driving safety centre in Saalfelden, where the DTM driver demonstrated how to drive safely in wintry conditions. Winter training at Mercedes-Benz Driving Events is aimed at preparing drivers to brake in an emergency and carry out sudden evasive manoeuvres on slippery surfaces, while inculcating slick, intuitive reactions at the wheel.
Isabella Laböck: “That was a fantastic day and definitely a lot of fun. Pascal is really good on a snowboard. What struck me straightaway when snowboarding was, once a racing driver, always a racing driver, no matter what. My outing on icy tracks at the Mercedes Winter Drive Experience was the absolute highlight of my day, and it’s amazing just what you can do with a car on snow and ice, given the necessary practice – much more than I would ever have expected! Thank you, Pascal for the valuable tips. Bring on the Sochi Olympics!”
Pascal Wehrlein: “Isabella surprised me at the wheel of the Mercedes A45 AMG. She quickly grasped how to drive a car on ice and showed no fear whatsoever when drifting. She obviously enjoyed the session at the ice arena. For my part, I really thought the snowboarding was just as fab. I could have carried on all day. You need an excellent sense of balance both on a snowboard and in a car, as you cannot feel when the car is about to go into a slide otherwise.”
