Monday February 10
It's a hectic one this week with plenty of cars and travel happening. The still rather muddy Skoda Yeti is at home awaiting collection later today while I drive myself to the airport for a red-eye flight to the launch of SEAT's Leon Cupra in Barcelona. For logistical reasons I'm flying there via Frankfurt, but I'm not put out as it gives me a good chance to get some extra work done on the flights.
The first thing I notice about the Leon Cupra as I walk out to my waiting car at Barcelona's Terminal 2 is the striking off-white colour - it's a blend of white and what you could call primer grey, and it looks stunning! I head off for the road section of the launch with Volkswagen Group's PR man, Paddy Comyn, who is wearing his SEAT shirt today. It performs well on the drive up to the second part of the launch (that's the Leon Cupra, not Paddy's shirt...), which is at the ParcMotor Castelloli, one of my favourite circuits. I first experienced it several years ago at the launch of BMW's S1000RR superbike, instantly falling in love with its layout. In a car it's just as much fun I'm pleased to report. Later that evening we manage to fit in dinner in an incredible small tapas restaurant in downtown Barcelona before heading back to the airport to fly home.
Tuesday February 11
Thanks to a rather full diary I'm over in Fiat HQ this morning to collect one of my test cars for this week - the Fiat 500L MPW with the 1.3-litre diesel, which should prove useful as I'm testing Fiat's new 1.6-litre diesel later this week. Also landing in the test car garage this week is the newly-updated Opel Insignia, and I've been spoilt by having a very highly-equipped car given to me. Aside from the car juggling it's a case of cramming in some more writing before flying away again tomorrow.
Wednesday February 12
Off to Italy this afternoon to drive some new engines and also a new model, which, for the moment, I still can't talk about. The incredibly strong winds blew into Dublin just as we were due to take off - I've never experienced turbulence on a plane that was still on the tarmac! Today is just about getting there and so is a chance to spend some time planning something that will be happening when I get back.
Thursday February 13
Early enough start as we head off to the Fiat event, which is being held at the Balocco testing facility, about 40 minutes from Milan. It's a chance to experience the new Beats Edition of the 500L along with another new model. Good to see it in more subtle colour schemes too. We also get to enjoy a very positively-slanted press conference; perhaps the recent take-over of Chrysler has put the pep back in the step of Fiat's top brass. Once all the drives are done we head back to the airport and home, albeit via Frankfurt. Thankfully there are no delays this time around and I get back into Dublin just before midnight. Normally I'd be home to bed but instead I'm collected and driven straight up to Malin Head - Ireland's most northern point - for a big road-trip the following morning.
Friday February 14
Valentine's Day! So, naturally, I'm spending the day driving the entire length of Ireland to Mizen Head - the most southerly point in the country. The weather was as varied as it could be, with rain, sleet, snow, sun and wind. Thankfully we made it to the end and then back home to Dublin and I look forward to being able to tell you a little more about it when the feature is published soon.
Sunday February 16
No rest for the wicked as I'm off to Marseilles today with BMW to look at its future technologies as well as driving a few prototype vehicles, which is always interesting. I'll be telling you more about all this next week.