Video: watch a rally driver nearly wipe out a cow

You may have heard of the elk-test. It’s a safety exercise where a car swerves into the oncoming lane to avoid an object – normally a traffic cone rather than a crestfallen and flinching elk – then immediately swerves back to avoid oncoming traffic. 

It’s designed to determine how stable and well a car can evade a suddenly appearing obstacle, and normally happens in closed conditions. But at last weekend’s Rally Guanajuato México, WRC hotshot Sebastien Ogier had to do the test for real. But instead of avoiding an elk, he had to avoid a cute baby cow in his VW Polo R.

Rallyists are known for their rabid reflexes, but the way that Sebastien Ogier manages to slither his way through the family of cattle in his 318bhp rally monster goes some way to show why he has three WRC titles to his name.

Unfortunately, his epic cow slalom wasn’t enough to get on the top step of the podium, as following his successes in Monte Carlo and Sweden, the Volkswagen driver finished second in Mexico. His team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala took the win.

We’re just glad the cow is safe to moo another day. Can you imagine the mess if Ogier ploughed straight through the poor calf? It’d be a cowtastrophe.