FURmula 1: Driver races bear on highway near Sochi (VIDEO)

Bears walking the streets in Russian cities may be a stereotype. But the beasts do like to jog along the country's highways and sometimes race passing cars as this footage proves.

The unusual encounter took place in the early hours near the village of Krasnaya Polyana at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The driver stumbled upon a bear after making a sharp corner on a spiraling mountainous road. The car and the animal than traveled side by side for some time, with the man filming the running beast in its full glory from a very close range. High speeds were involved as a brown bear is capable of making 50 kilometers per hour.

Sochi was the perfect venue for such a faceoff as the city has hosted the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix since 2014. And it turns out even the local fauna have picked up the racing spirit.

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