The third instalment in the Norwegian Børning trilogy, Børning 3: Asphalt Burning sees the often loose and irresponsible street racer, Roy Gundersen (Anders Baasmo) back with his trusty yellow ’67 Mustang, allegedly changed in his ways and getting serious as a family man.

First published in the May 2024 issue of Street Machine

With his wedding to Sylvia (Kathrine Thorborg Johansen) set for the following day, a pickled Roy become the victim of the ultimate cockblock at his own pre-wedding party: he’s tricked into laying a kiss on the sultry and dangerous Robin (Alexandra Maria Lara), who subsequently disappears.

A perplexed Roy tries to forget the night’s confusing encounter and focuses his energy on the next day’s joke ‘race’ between his friends up Norway’s stunning Trollstigen mountain road, where the ‘winner’ gets to claim the bride. All is jovial between Roy and his Caddy-hearse-driving mates Doffen (Sven Nordin) and mechanical whizz Nybakken (Otto Jespersen), along with super-drifter TT (Trond Halbo) in his Toyota 86, until a mystery driver in a red Porsche turns up the wick and makes it serious.

Unfortunately for Roy, the winning Porsche driver is Robin, who spills the beans to her old friend Sylvia about the kiss and whisks the bride away. A speechless Roy is left heartbroken, but Robin gives him one last chance to win his bride back in a race against her at the iconic Nürburgring track in Germany. With Roy’s eldest daughter Nina (Ida Husøy) riding shotgun, a road trip ensues through Sweden and Denmark, with adventure and misadventure coming the group’s way in equal measure.

A sideshow of pink-slip racing with the appropriately named and dressed Lemmy Müller (Henning Baum) becomes a blessing in disguise when Roy torches the Mustang’s engine, and a last-minute engine swap with Lemmy’s blown hot rod donk sees him back in with a chance against Robin.

An eleventh-hour shift of the goalposts sees two extra racers added to the mix: Lemmy in a C3 Corvette and ‘German’ Roy (Kostja Ullmann) in his 2020 Supra. Along with Roy’s Mustang and Robin’s Porsche, it’s an interesting matchup!

VERDICT: 3.5/5

Oh, did Børning 3: Asphalt Burning start with plenty of promise! Unfortunately, it lost me for a while when it introduced a shotgun scoop with eyes painted on the throttle blades and some ridiculous CGI stunts that looked straight off an Atari 2600. But those old-man brow-furrows aside, it’s a great gearhead flick jammed full of cool rides from all manner of hot-car genres sharing the screen seamlessly.

There’s plenty of awesome non-CGI driving action set against some seriously beautiful backdrops, and even a few funny moments to cement the ‘comedy’ half of its genre.

VEHICLES:

• 1967 Ford Mustang
• 2019 Porsche TECHART GTstreet RS
• 1969 Cadillac Funeral Coach
• 1979 Toyota Cressida
• Toyota GT86
• 1976 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
• 1932 Ford hot rod
• 2020 Toyota GR Supra
• 1973 Ford F100
• 2014 BMW i8
• 1949 Chevrolet Styleline
• 1969 Chevrolet Camaro

STARS:

• Anders Baasmo
• Alexandra Maria Lara
• Sven Nordin
• Otto Jespersen
• Kathrine Thorborg Johansen
• Ida Husøy
• Henrik Mestad
• Trond Halbo
• Henning Baum
• Kostja Ullmann

DIRECTOR:
Hallvard Bræin

ACTION:
Drag racing, circuit racing, drifting and mobile eye candy make up 95 per cent of this film, leaving car-struck viewers not wanting for a thing.

PLOT:
A retired street racer trying to turn his life around is tricked away from the altar, and must literally race to win back his fiancé’s affections.

AVAILABLE:
Netflix, DVD

COOL FLICK FACT:
The TECHART Porsche that features in this film is a 720hp supercar, based on the 991 series and built in very limited numbers.