6:55 am, August 17, 2010
SORRY for the lack of a Road Test of the Year update yesterday – the 3am start sort of killed the end of the day…
We were up well before dawn to bag the cover shot for the next issue – and it was well worth our bleary eyes.
The results our snapper Dean Smith has bagged really are stunning – in fact, having seen a few on the laptop, I’d go as far as saying they’re the best we’ve ever done.
We managed to get the key to Black Rock Sands from the local council so we could get on the beach early before anyone else.
That stroke of luck really paid off as we had undisturbed access to the golden sands. And five sports cars. Well, you can imagine what happened next…
If you’ve ever seen the end to my favourite film On Any Sunday, you’ll know exactly what I mean. It was a life-changing moment, a thing-before-I-die event finally ticked off.
After cleaning the cars with a jet wash and returning them to showroom-fresh condition we took to the roads again for more video and pictures. Fortunately the weather was roasting all day so we made the most of it, despite the early start.
At one stage, while we shot some footage of the R8 V10 and the Boxster Spyder, we were buzzed twice by two F15s and a Hawk. The pilots might just of been having as much fun as we were!
COPS
There was one rather heart-in-the-mouth moment though. When we finally got back to the hotel, we all got out of the cars to be met by two bikers, dressed in black leathers parking their bikes right in front of the cars.
Well, you can guess what happened next. ‘Are these your cars?’ asked the tall biker.
‘No, we’re from a magazine,’ I replied, relieved he wasn’t asking to see my licence. ‘I thought for a moment you were a copper?”
‘I am,’ he replied.
Oh dear. Oh very dear.
Instantly rewinding the last half hour’s drive back to the hotel I tried to remember if we’d cracked any prison sentence speeds…
‘Don’t worry,’ added the biker. ‘I’m off duty. Just wanted to check out the cars.’
What a relief. Turns out he’s a total petrol-head and often pulls over road testers from Evo for a drive in their cars.
‘The last time I saw the guys from Evo they were testing the Lamborghini LP670 SV. I left my jacket and hat at the side of the road and we hit 140mph up a slip road with one road tester from the magazine. It was amazing.’
What an awesome chap.
It was just another mad twist in the RTOTY10 tale. Fingers crossed we don’t meet his colleagues today…
James
More blogs from this year’s RTOTY10 can be found here
