Motorists hate black ice like the devil hates holy water. No wonder, because when the going is icy, directional stability is all too often an unpredictable lottery.

With its Hakkapeliitta 8 studded tyre, Finnish tyre manufacturer Nokian, traditionally committed to this cold problem area, has provided impressive proof that it is possible to drive at blistering speed, under control and in a straight line even on an icy surface.

The Finn Janne Laitinen clocked 331.61 km/h on the thick ice sheet of the Gulf of Bothnia on 6 March 2011.

Armed with his speed record experience at Nardo – where the boss pushed his “RS 6 Nardo Edition” to a record of 362.5 km/h – Roland Mayer provided a new RS 6. Modified for a hot run in icy cold.

With more than 800 hp under the bonnet, aerodynamically attuned to the operating conditions and therefore also equipped with enclosed, milled wheel rims and with the expert hand of Janne Laitinen (Nokian tyres) on the wheel, the MTM RS 6 broke the light beam at 335,713 km/h / 208,602 mph (average speed for two runs).

New world record on ice – typically MTM.