How To Scandinavian Flick – The Secret Rally Technique Explained
There are plenty of ways to initiate a drift. A lot of this is down to personal preference, what kind of angle you’re wanting, or what corner you’re drifting around. But the coolest and arguably best way to do it is by performing a Scandinavian flick.
In a bid to help young (and old, we haven’t forgotten you) drivers understand more skilled techniques, this will be the first of many articles on such subjects. So strap in, and let me take you through how to pull off one of the best moves in motorsport.
What is the Scandinavian Flick?
While it sounds like a Norwegian disposing of the evidence after picking their nose, this move is one of the oldest and most adaptable techniques in all of motorsport. And while it is mostly referred to in regards to drifting these days (called feint drifting), it was Scandinavian rally drivers who first put their names to this term.
They’d use weight transfer to propel their all-wheel-drive rally cars around corners, pushing through any potential understeer and instead using oversteer to angle the car into the apex before accelerating out at full chat.
These Scandinavians were fiendish and mastered this skill in the ice, snow, and dirt. But now this technique is used in many forms of motorsport such as drifting, and even some forms of tarmac racing.
How to do it
The concept is incredibly easy, but actually pulling it off successfully is very challenging.
Approaching the corner, you first turn in the opposite direction, shifting the weight of the car in the same direction as you eventually want to go. Straight away, as soon as the weight has been shifted, you want to turn towards the corner, shifting the weight in the opposite direction. This will cause the rear wheels to break traction and you must then hold the slide as you turn the corner using the accelerator, brake, and likely with a bit of opposite lock.
Sometimes, you’ll need to take your foot off the throttle when turning back towards the corner because this will take the weight off the rear wheels, helping them lose traction.
This ‘flick’ will allow you to be aggressive when entering a corner, keeping up momentum, and negating any understeer you could have got around the corner.
There’s a brilliant video by the guys at Carfection, specifically Henry Catchpole, who have created a video on how to do this using an Alpine A110 on the snow. The low level of traction means Henry can slow down the technique as he talks you through the process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where did the Scandinavian flick come from?
The flick came from the 1960s as rally drivers learned how to use the weight of the car as a pendulum to oversteer into a turn.
