I must apologise for my absence of late. I know I’ve said that on many occasions, but I either couldn’t find anything worth writing, or I wrote forced and uninspired lines in the literary equivalent of pulling teeth. Then Friday came along. At long last, I was able to have the supercar passenger experience Louis had bought me for Christmas at Dunsfold Aerodrome – the former home of Top Gear. In an instant, I had exactly the kind of experience that should rightly be preserved on Third Time Enabled, one that left me grinning from ear to ear (as these photos will attest).

I’m not going to bore the non-petrolheads amongst you with too many details, though. I just want the record to show that it was a lot of fun, even though each of the four laps around the track frightened the life out of me! The first two were in a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560, while the latter two were in a Ferrari F430. I chose both cars from a list of ten, and even though it was a tough choice at first glance, I realised I had to go for the shouty, passionate Italian stallions – needless to say, they didn’t disappoint. My driver was a professional racer, too, so he was giving it the beans to say the least, and what conversation we did have was largely drowned out by the screaming V10 and V8 behind us. Not that he was fazed, flicking both cars smoothly from left to right as though he was moving a PlayStation joystick. He was as cool as a cucumber, directly contrasting with me as I suppressed a number of loud expletives. What a thrill though. What a thrill. There’s one thing I won’t be forgetting in a hurry – casually being told to keep my head against the headrest as he put his foot down, and the force hit me in the chest. For him, it was another day at the office doing what he did best, but I was totally knocked for six. Money well spent, I think you’ll agree. Thank you Louis, it was worth the wait without a doubt!

Mason