TWO WEEKS TO GO TILL THE START OF ECOTY 2022 and emails are flying hither and, indeed, thither. Most are from Mr Editor Gallagher and they concern the latest runners and riders. A couple of cars that were on the original list have dropped out. Lamborghini is unable to supply a Huracán Tecnica, which is a shame, but then a Huracán figured prominently in last year’s contest, the STO finishing second behind the truly remarkable M5 CS.
The other absentee, and the one car we’re truly sorry not to have for this eCoty, is the Lotus Emira, but then we’re not alone in our frustration here. Delays in getting cars to customers have been well-documented. Still, there’s always next year (which may well be the latest communication from Lotus’s customer service department too).
Fortunately we have two excellent substitutes in the shape of the Audi R8 V10 Performance RWD and Mercedes-AMG SL55. The R8 has long been an evo favourite and the latest V10 RWD is right up our B-road. The SL is more of a wild card, in that none of us have driven it until now, but given AMG’s track record and the fact the new SL is entirely AMG’s own creation, we reckon it’s well worth a punt.
A number of eCoty team regulars are also missing in action. Henry Catchpole has a long-standing filming commitment, while Adam Towler has been laid low and John Barker is recuperating after finding himself pedalling his mountain bike in mid-air after taking a wrong turn and launching off a 10ft vertical drop. The forest floor eventually broke his fall (along with an impressive number of bones). Happily both Adam and JB are recovering well; no word on Henry, but he’s such a luvvie these days that he’s sure to be fine.
Anyway, it might not have been entirely coincidental that shortly after JB’s mishap an email arrived from Mr G asking if I was available, rather like the Johnny English film where all the other agents are incapacitated so English is called out of semi-retirement as a geography teacher. Despite being a little short of match practice and not having attended an eCoty for 13 years, I took all of three nanoseconds to say yes.
Well, who wouldn't jump at the chance to drive this group of cars? Cars that, like you, I’ve read and heard so much about. Two hybrid supercars – from Ferrari and McLaren – going head-to-head. The first mid-engined Maserati (discounting the Enzo-under-the-skin MC12) since the 1970s. The first full-fat no-holds-barred GT RS version of the Cayman. The first BMW to wear the hallowed CSL badge since the iconic E46 M3 CSL… As line-ups go, it’s pretty mouthwatering.
And then came the email from Mr G to tell me which of the contenders would be delivered to my home to get to know over the weekend before the long drive up to Northumberland on the Sunday evening. Would it be one of the hybrids perhaps? Or one of the ICE supercars. Maybe the hardcore M4 CSL or Cayman GT4 RS.
Reader, I hope you can forgive me if I confess a pang of disappointment that my weekend steed, my car for the long drive north, would be the GR86. Sure, road testers have written nice things about it, but come on, it’s a 30-grand Toyota. I hadn’t even much liked its predecessor, which I drove in Subaru form when the GT86/BRZ twins were first launched and remember finding it distinctly underwhelming.
Anyway, the GR86 arrives, and I take it for a quick spin, and… hang on a mo. Yes, it still feels (and smells!) like a £30k Toyota, and the cabin is pretty rudimentary by current games-console standards, but the seats and driving position are spot-on and there’s a feeling of solidity I wasn’t expecting (the GT86/BRZ always felt a little scratchy and brittle in the plastics dept).
Moving off, the gearchange feels pleasingly tight and precise, the steering really nicely weighted. And it actually has a decent wodge of torque where the GT86/BRZ had to be wrung right out and still felt a little asthmatic. Hold on to the gears and the GR86 feels genuinely brisk. Maybe the chaps are just easing me in gently. If a 231bhp Toyota feels quick, a 819bhp Ferrari might be a bit much for the old Tomalin ticker.
So, Sunday evening, the epic drive north, and the GR86 shows another facet to its all-round appeal as it knocks off the four-hour mostly motorway journey with utter ease. By the time I arrive at eCoty HQ, I’ve really warmed to this little car.
Our accommodation for the next few days is a sprawling farmhouse in the Northumberland countryside near Hexham. Most of the rest of the team are already there when I nose into the car park, and I can just make out the distinctive outlines of the Maserati, Ferrari and Porsche in the gloom. Framed in the kitchen window, I can see the equally distinctive outlines
