Brit Jan Farrell has become the fastest skier on the planet on asphalt, registering a top speed of 63.78kph in Motorland Aragon, Spain.
The previous record on asphalt was held at 51.4 km/h (32 mph) by Erik Roner (USA) at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah for the MTV show Nitro Circus.
Jan used a Ferrari F458 Italia Competizione, courtesy of Formula GT Experience, driven by Spanish rally driver Marc Sánchez. The car, sporting 578 horsepower, was used to tow the ski racer on the 1726m straight section of the Moto GP circuit.
“I set out to break the Asphalt Ski World Record, a long time objective of mine since I first trained behind a car back in 2001 with a group of friends. Technically, skiing in these conditions isn’t easy: during the record attempt I was fighting constantly to maintain my trajectory on the asphalt, as the skis were almost uncontrollable. They had a life of their own after about 50kph. Now the skis can only be used as museum pieces: one for the circuit, and one for the owners of the car,” said Farrell.
The skier used standard production World Cup skis from Atomic built specifically for Giant Slalom – 195cm long and with a 35m radius. Farrell says they were perfect for the feat due to their stiffness and lack of camber (the tip and tail therefore don’t put too much pressure on the ground). For this occasion, Jan swapped his plasticised aerodynamic speed suit for motorcycle leathers and helmet used by professional motorcycle riders.
Jan Farrell currently races the FIS World Cup Speed 1 category, the fastest non-motorised sport on the planet where ski racers surpass 200kph in less than 8 seconds on slopes that can reach 120% gradient.
This World Record is Jan’s second, adding up to his indoor World Record from May 2015 in SnowHall Amneville. On that occasion Jan reached 104.965 kph. Among many different projects he is currently aiming to break a total of seven Guinness World Speed records during the next 3 years.