Ferrari Blast

The summer has finally arrived. Yesterday saw temperatures reach the mid 20s and a very sunny day across England. Perfect weather for a drive in our new car - a 2002 Ford Focus, which should be far more reliable than our Megane.

So we took our car for a run up to Oxfordshire, as that is where I had to go to experience a gift Natalie gave me for our first wedding anniversary last year - a test drive of a Ferrari F355 spider.

Out on a taxiway on a disused military airbase in Heyford, Oxfordshire, you can dash around in Ferraris, a Porsche, a WRX a Lotus Elise and more.

I got four laps, each consisting of two long straights and a couple of large U-turns, adding up to almost 2 kms.

Now I haven't driven a manual in about 3 1/2 years, but I, with the asistance of a co-driver/instructor I quickly got into the groove and was able to get the Ferrai into fourth gear before having to brake to turn the car around. Certainly I wasn't the quickest out there but I had alot of fun and would love to have spent a little more time as by the fourth lap I was starting to find my form.

It was a great gift and I thoroughly enjoyed myself once I got into the car and found that it wasn't as difficult to drive as I thought it might be. Mind you, I wasn't pushing it to its limits. But what fun!