Monday June 23
It's getting well and truly into silly season in terms of both national and international launches, so having a relatively quiet Monday is a welcome treat. After dropping back the Opel Insignia Country Tourer I nip across to Baldonnel to collect the latest version of Range Rover's Evoque. The styling is aging well and despite the popularity of the baby Rangie, it still looks fresh. My particular test car is equipped with the new and more efficient nine-speed automatic transmission, which will be put to the test later in the week.
Tuesday June 24
The first of many early starts over the coming weeks. Today Frankfurt is the destination for the international preview of the Ford Edge, well it's Cologne actually, so an hour-long high-speed train journey breaks up the monotony of air travel. The Edge is the last Ford to be officially unveiled by Martin Smith (the Blue Oval's Executive Design Director) ahead of his retirement. His career has spanned a lengthy period that has seen some iconic car designs take to our roads. As for the Edge itself, it is the first proper mid-size Ford SUV we will see on our roads and should certainly steal away some rivals' customers. Following a quick gawk and a poke, I'm back on the train to Frankfurt and home in time for a late dinner.
Wednesday June 24
More travelling today, this time by Range Rover Evoque and with my colleague Neil Briscoe up to Co. Fermanagh to sample the new Subaru WRX STI. As per usual with any road trip taken with Neil, both my cheeks and ribs ache from laughter by the time we arrive. I'm very happy to see the WRX return to proper saloon form and like many previous iterations before, it has kept the aggressive stance. Somewhat predictably the car is very rapid, with the four-wheel drive system allowing me to engage full slingshot mode out of every corner on our drive. Mightily impressive, but thanks to our government's view on vehicle emissions it is likely to be prohibitively expensive. Pity.
Thursday June 25
It's back to Frankfurt this morning, this time with Opel for a visit to its design studios. It is very rare that we journalists ever get to see exactly what goes on behind the scenes in these places, so full credit to Opel for well and truly flinging the doors open for us to see some of the very interesting things being working on. Being able to have a proper look in and around the stunning Monza concept away from a packed motor show was a bonus. Also being able to chat to designers both old and new as well as driving some of the cars from days gone by was quite special and served to show just how much car design has evolved over the decades. All too soon I head back to Frankfurt airport, but this time London is my next port of call as I'll be spending the rest of the weekend at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Friday June 26
A very early start from my base in London's Belgravia is needed to beat the traffic, which is notoriously bad around the Festival of Speed. Conveniently, having the use of a Ferrari F12 over the weekend takes some of the sting out of it. It would seem that a 740hp rear-wheel drive blast out of London before 6.30am is a sufficient substitute for coffee. Once at Goodwood it's a bit of a panic to get the car parked and into driver sign-on before on to scrutineering to have all of my fireproofs checked and helmet passed. A brisk walk back to the paddock and Alfa Romeo's Museum mechanics are already warming the GTA 1300 Junior Hillclimb car that I'll be driving up the hill first. As I get suited up I'm given a very brief briefing as to the various idiosyncrasies of the car. Essentially don't ever let the revs drop below 3,000rpm and there's brand new brakes fitted so give them a few pumps on the way to the start line. Eh, ok then! Before I have time to even catch my breath I'm suddenly edging up to the start line with Walter Röhrl's unmistakable Audi quattro rally car behind me. No pressure. You'll have to wait for my separate Goodwood feature to hear the rest of the story...
Saturday June 27
Looking at the predicted weather forecast I wasn't particularly looking forward to day two at Goodwood, but amazingly not a drop of rain would end up falling the entire day. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have visions of the F12 being towed out of a muddy bog. Today would prove to be a slightly more relaxed affair and an opportunity to wander around taking in the sights of the paddocks and also to catch up with some old friends. The action on track was especially entertaining this year, and with the re-introduction of a timed supercar run, proved to be spectacular too, though some were left with red faces following a number of off-track excursions into the hay bales.
Sunday June 28
With an early evening flight and a Ferrari to return, only a limited amount of time would be permitted at Goodwood on the final day. No matter how much time you have at this event it's almost impossible to take everything in. If you've never been, do yourself a favour and get tickets for next year - it really is one of the best events out there. After a quick jaunt to Heathrow it's homeward bound after what turned out to be one hectic week. More to come next week too.