Insurance sorted, car paid for, train tickets bought, helmet bought, waterproofs bought - collection day was set as Saturday 25th Feb.

I spend most of the week in Germany but all week long my weather forecast was prominent on my desktop in Russelsheim, not showing local German weather but the forecast for the big day in Shropshire and Leicestershire - it started off not looking good and as the week progressed the outlook became bleaker.

I had promised my petrolhead 9 year old that if it looked as if it was going to be dry then he could come with me - needless to say that did not register, all he heard was "you can come with me" - he was not happy to be left at home and his mum had a slightly difficult morning to deal with :-)

Morning of the 25th dawned and it was very grey and it was obvious the rain was not far away.  Leaving Telford at 9am I got the train to Birmingham - no rain, got the train to Melton Mowbray - still no rain, got the taxi to Ians home and literally as we pulled up to the end of his drive it started to rain.

Paperwork down, spares already pre-installed in the passenger it was time for the off.  Only 9 litres showed in the fuel tank, about 30 miles in an SEiGHT, totally unfamiliar with the area I decided to go back to Melton where the taxi had passed a fuel station, even if it was out of my way I felt it was the sensible thing to do.

All fuelled up and now I had no idea how to get back to Loughborough from where I knew my way home) - no problem, simply call up Google maps on my phone - rural Leicestershire clearly has not reached this century as mobile reception was non-existent.  After driving about 25 miles through identikit villages with signs pointing to only other tiny villages I stumbled across a road with a sign to Loughborough, now I could make my way home as opposed to driving round in circles.

Rain, aeroscreens, 205 section tyres, 5.1 litre V8. mud on the roads does not make for a relaxing drive but I got home in 1 piece, Ian was certainly right, 1st gear simply provides wheelspin and no forward motion, he forgot to mention that 2nd, 3rd and 4th also provide wheelspin.

Having to park the car up under its cover without washing it first was an alien concept to me - anyone who knows me would say I'm slightly OCD about the cleanliness of my cars but sometimes there is no choice.