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You might be wondering now if I ever get bored of driving the same few circuits over and over again. "How hard can it be, surely you know them now", I hear. Well it's not quite that simple. You have to spend hours upon hours around a circuit to really begin to understand it. As I discovered at Silverstone a few months ago I found new ways of going faster, and that was somewhere I definitely thought I had a good grasp of.

Brands Hatch is no different and I know I've still not got it quite right. I've only really had one dry day in the Caterham and that was a long time ago now. Unfortunately that wasn't about to change as today's trackday was very cold and very wet. So much so that I decided not to bother with the Caterham at all...

A Toyota iQ is probably not the first car you'd think of when picturing yourself driving around a race track. In fact when I turned up in the morning, I don't think anyone could quite picture it. Sat in the pitlane amongst various high powered Hondas, a Skyline, a Caterham, and the MGs that were sharing the day with Hondas On Track, the iQ didn't exactly fit in. But you know what they say - "it's not what you drive, but how you drive". And I do like a challenge.

Before going anywhere I knew I was going to be a bit of a mobile chicane along the straights and I'd probably spend a large portion of the day looking in my mirrors and jumping out of the way. But I had a little voice in the back of my head saying, "we can have them in the corners". The iQ has a really nicely balanced chassis and eggs you on when it probably shouldn't. After all it's just a city car. It's only got skinny tyres and 67hp. It didn't belong here.

So I think it was to everyone's shear astonishment (including mine) when they saw just how good the iQ was. I pushed hard on the cold, wet circuit, where others were being very careful on their stiff suspension and dry weather tyres. The iQ would take everything I threw at it, hopping across the curbs and drifting through the corners. I even managed to catch and pass a couple of Hondas, which really made my day.

The passengers I took out were equally impressed, both with the car and my ability to extract far more from it than should have been possible. The traction control and stability control systems were having a coronary and the flashing lights and beeping noises did get a little annoying. But it was such good fun! Hammer down the pit straight, late on the brakes for Paddock Hill, turn in and feel the car slide, the back end starts to step out of line. A dab of 'oppo and a bit more power and it drifts through the apex beautifully.

There really is something about driving an under-powered car on the limit. I think I had more fun larking about in the iQ than I've ever had before in any other car on any other track. The Caterham is, frankly, useless in the cold and wet. I was given the chance to pilot a 270hp Caterham CSR while I was there and yes, it was lovely to have the power in a straight line, but a nightmare to find traction coming out of the bends. One particular sideways moment had me briefly facing the pit wall at 90mph, and by that point I was practically on a straight bit of track. Utterly insane.

So there you have it. The best trackday car of 2009 is, the Toyota iQ. You heard it here first.

Click here for more pictures.

So this was to be my fourth time on the GP circuit, which says a lot about how much I enjoy it. Every lap of Silverstone is a challenge and the changing conditions this time made it even more difficult. The morning started off dry but by the time we arrived for the briefing, the rain was coming down. After a couple of mandatory sighting laps I decided it was too wet to start lapping and retreated to the pits until 10:30 when the rain had stopped.

I could have gone out in that first hour and a half, I've certainly driven through worse on the road. But I've done enough track days now to know what it's all about, and I can do without getting soaked just for fun. It provided us with a nice opportunity to get some breakfast and have a very civilised start to the day.

So when I did venture out onto the circuit, it was a whole new Silverstone to me. It will come as no surprise to anyone who uses A048 cut slicks in all weathers, that in the cold and wet, they are absolutely, utterly useless. Driving around the circuit was a balancing act of brakes, throttle and steering and all it took was an ever so slightly over enthusiastic input and the car would start misbehaving. Corners that were taken at high speed on full throttle were now taken with extreme caution. For example, exiting Chapel onto Hangar straight is taken at around 100mph in 5th with full throttle. In the wet however, this results in the rear wheels spinning up and the car wanting to swap ends. At 100mph. In 5th.

The other place of concern for me was exiting the Abbey chicane just before Bridge. Again, this is a throw away corner in the dry, taken flat in 3rd gear at around 80mph with a lot of help from the curb. You never think about the wall that's just a couple of metres from the edge of the track because there's never any chance of making contact. But in the wet, it was a different story all together. Despite short shifting into 4th and being careful with my right foot, it was incredibly easy to be having a big moment just inches away from the edge of the track, with the wall patiently waiting to meet the car.

So I quickly got used to staying clear of the white lines and curbs. Club and Luffield were the places to practice power sliding which was great fun. I managed a couple of half spins but kept clear of the grass (and any immovable objects). It was one of those times on track where you just have to give up trying to drive fast and enjoy the moment and learn what the car can do. And I learned a lot.

After lunch it had dried out enough to show a dry line and we could all start to press on. The slow and clumsy looking Caterham from the wet morning became a precise, agile racing machine once again. I had some great laps playing with the Lotus boys, and in a couple of instances seemingly managed to pressure them into mistakes. Have a look towards the end of the onboard video to see what I mean.

I thought I had the GP circuit fairly well sussed. I know where the corners are, where to turn in, apex, etc. The Caterham is a very different beast to anything I've driven before though, and it seemed even more inspiring than last year on the GP circuit. I learned I could carry enough speed through Copse to get up into 6th on the straight between Copse and Maggotts where the pit exit is, then ride the curb on the slight left kink of turn 2 as usual, a dab of brakes and down into 5th, and ride the curb for the right hander of Maggotts. Instead of then braking and changing down for the left hander of Becketts, I found I could simply lift off and turn in, feel my way through the weight transfer, get on the power briefly at the apex and on the run up towards turn 5, then once again just change down and lift off and guide the car through.

The upshot of all of that is that I needed only brake once for the entire Maggotts/Becketts/Chapel complex. It takes some commitment and faith that the car will stick, but it's absolutely as satisfying as taking Bridge at full throttle. Such a rush.

Anyway I've waffled on for far too long. Hopefully that begins to convey how much of a fantastic day it was. I'm never happier than when I'm behind the wheel on a race track, and I've come to realise that no matter how many times I visit Silverstone, it will always be a tremendously special, exhilarating and challenging place.

Check out the video and pictures in the gallery.

Somehow I've managed to go the best part of ten months without a proper track day. There was North Weald in March of course, but that doesn't really count. The trouble with my shoulder meant I wasn't driving at Combe and had to wait until I was fit again. Thankfully, the Porsche 928 club came to the rescue and I was invited to drive the Southern circuit at Silverstone.

I've previously only driven the GP circuit which is wonderful, but sometimes a little long. The Southern circuit includes Chapel, Hangar straight, Vale and Club but breaks off to the right before the Abbey chicane for a brief, high speed, in-field section before re-joining the GP circuit for Chapel. It's not quite as short as Brands Indy but cuts a good third to half of the distance from the GP circuit. And I have to say, it's brilliant!

The weather was bright and sunny and the rain held off until the journey home (when I had a couple of inches of rain water in my passenger seat). It was pretty windy though and not always easy to turn into Chapel. The variety of cars was good and driving standards were generally pretty good too. I wasn't able to get any pictures but I have put together a short video.

Two and a half months since dislocating my shoulder though and my body was not happy by the end of the day, despite committed physio and training. I'd forgotten just how intensive driving the Seven is (or how unfit I am!). However, it's encouraged me to finish the year on a high and plan some more track days.

Watch this space.

The first track outing for the Caterham and I for 2009 was at North Weald airfield near Epping, for an 'activity day' with Hondas-On-Track. It was to be the fifth time I visited the airfield and the third time I attempted to take the Caterham. The previous two attempts had been hampered by transmission problems but this time round the car was absolutely ready for a days abuse.

I had been keeping a close eye on the weather during the week leading up to the day and very nearly cancelled altogether due to forecast heavy rain. At the last moment however, the outlook brightened up and the weather stayed dry for the majority of the day, the hazy sunshine only briefly interrupted by a couple of showers and some hail stones (which were quite painful). Everyone arrived nice and early and the day started off with a difference.

The group was split into two; those that had been before and those that were new. Us old hands ventured off to a new location west of the runway where a short course had been set up. This was apparently due to some unexpected issues with the airfield which meant the planned slalom course was unavailable. The course was quite tricky and included five or so cones to create a short slalom. It was clearly a part of the airfield that doesn't get used much because it was more like a gravel rally stage to begin with, so I let a few others go before me to sweep the surface a bit.

One of those that went before me was my friend Tony with his Elise. This was probably a mistake; it's safe to say there's a bit of friendly rivalry between us and having seen him set a very impressive initial time, I was keen to at least keep in touch (but really my superior machine should allow me to set a much faster time...). Anyway, I was an inch or so too close to a cone as I understeered after going into the slalom too quickly, and unfortunately the cone was flicked up into the rear wing, ripping it from the car. After collecting the debris I checked the car and thankfully the only damage was the broken (sacrificial) plastic wing retaining bolts, the wing itself and the light cluster. The delicate aluminium side skin had survived unscathed apart from a minor dent, which a new wing will cover up.

So after that somewhat embarrassing start, the day progressed quite well. After quite a few rides to passengers around that course, we swapped with the other group to attempt the high speed bend. I was a little disappointed with the car, struggling to turn in at much more than 80mph. I've never had such an issue on a circuit (or the road), where I'm better able to set the car up for a corner to find the right balance between understeer and oversteer.

After a break for lunch we continued with the traditional short and long handling courses, my personal favourites. Starting with the short course my first run ended up being my fastest of the day, and no matter how much I tried I could only ever equal it. The hairpin was dispatched with ease (and gusto) with a prod of the throttle which was great fun, and when the clouds brought a brief shower it was great fun steering around most of the cones with the throttle. Tony struggled with ground clearance on the bumpy long course but I managed to set a time four seconds faster than anyone else on the first run, although by the end of the day it had been matched by an impressive run in a DC2 Integra.

All of this larking about is great fun but it does have a serious side to it. It's impossible to learn the limits of a car in any other environment so anyone that completes a North Weald day will be a safer road and circuit driver. They are a hugely valuable lesson in what to expect when the unexpected happens.

However, the numbers involved on these days have gradually increased and far too much of the day was spent waiting around in queues. This could have been a lot worse if there weren't three courses running simultaneously, but for me it spoiled the day slightly. Having done five days on the airfield now I will give the next few a miss and concentrate on circuits.

So I must say thank you to Hondas-On-Track and Andy Walsh for organising the day which was very enjoyable, and also to Si Martin and Andy Elder for some excellent photos. I've put together a short video and a collection of photos from the event:

Browse the photo gallery for the event

View the video

It's fast becoming a tradition to visit the Indy circuit at Brands Hatch at the end of the year. Truth is, Hondas-On-Track put on such a great show and it's such a good way to finish off the year, it would be rude not to really.

However, this year is the first time it's been wet, and by wet I mean with actual rain. I was prepared for this though and had borrowed a fully enclosed trailer to tow the Caterham in. After briefing and making sure the cars were ready, we all pottered out of the pit lane for some exploritory laps behind a pace car. It was definitely slippery; I couldn't generate any heat in the tyres and it was very very difficult to make progress without any confidence in the car.

I soon realised it was pointless trying to drive the car at ten tenths in those kind of conditions, so I settled down and enjoyed sliding the car around instead. This was the first time I'd used the LSD on track and I think it may have been easier to go quickly in the wet without it. The diff has been setup for a Caterham, but it still locks quite early; great for power slides, but difficult to be neat.

View the complete photo album in the gallery

In the afternoon the weather took a brief rest bite and the circuit dried out. I was able to put in some fast laps and was pleased to find the LSD really coming into its own, allowing me to get on the power very early and with a lot of confidence. The level of grip was excellent and I really enjoyed the session.

I decided to end on a high and not bother going out again in the rain. Although slightly shorter and quite different to normal track days due to the weather, it was a very entertaining day and as always, well run by Hondas-On-Track (who continue to put up with my decidedly un-Honda car).

No video this time but have a nose around the gallery for some pictures.