You might not think that a team of dogs racing against an SUV would be a close race. Yet when Land Rover made the race happen, the winner eked out victory by a nose. (Get it?)
Land Rover estimates that 50 percent of its customers own or travel with dogs, so the automaker drove a team of sled dogs to the underground Vesileppis Ski Tunnel in Finland for a lighthearted race. The ski tunnel is 115 feet below ground level, and it’s constantly chilled to 28.4 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing 0.8 inches of snow to stay in the tunnel year-round.
The race saw a Land Rover Discovery Sport face off against Laura Kääriänen, a Finnish champion musher, and her team of six sled dogs. In order to make it a fair fight, the Discovery Spot had to navigate over blocks of ice in its path. Since the dog sled only averages about 22 mph, it wouldn’t have been much of a race on flat ground alone.
Note: It is not advised that you attempt to race your own dogs with your own vehicle, whether or not it’s a Land Rover, and whether or not it’s in an underground Finnish ski tunnel.
