Epicness powered by Mercedes-Benz

The Internet has given me many great things over the past seven or so years, like email, twitter and youtube videos, but non of them will be quite as memorable as free tickets to the Powered by Mercedes Benz event at Brooklands. As most of you know, me and Roman do a lot of talking about cars and I must admit we don't have access to the Top Gear test track nor do we have full UK driving licenses yet, so any opportunity to get up close and personal with beautifully crafted machinery, some of it by hand or Hans (if we we're talking about the AMG engine in the SLS). Unfortunately Roman couldn't attend and will now regret it for the rest of his life. So for those of you, like Roman, who didn't go, I've kindly summarised the event below in the form of text and pictures, so after reading it carefully you can tell all your mates about it by simply pretending you were there.

On arrival the car park was full of cars typically owned by anoraks, there were Evo VIIIs, Imprezzas, BMWs, Audis, a brand new Focus RS, and the odd Triumph, not to forget the hundreds of die hard Mercedes fans who went all out and brought their cars along to meet their long lost relatives on the pilgrimage to British branch of Mercedes-Benzism. In true British fashion, the weather insured only the most dedicated fans turned up in cold temperatures and the grey skied prospect of rain. With the prospect of meeting the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, Ross Brawn and Heiki Kovaleinen the hundreds of zealot McLaren and BrawnGP fans had put on their traditional dress of full replica race suits combined with as many accessories from the official merchandise catalogue they could carry. One family of three had McLaren tracksuits, t-shirts, hats, flags and a small child dressed as Lewis Hamilton, which they dangled over the edge of the security barrier to get written on by famous F1 stars. Unlike the greasy haired autograph selling thugs who elbow five year olds out the way, this family lived, breathed and slept McLaren, meeting their F1 heroes left them deeply moved. Most of the public visitors were just as extreme, I even met a man who had travelled from the foreign land of Wales just to meet Ross Brawn.

After hanging in the midst of these enthusiasts for at least 20 minutes I felt as if I had been infected with some sort of F1 super fan flu, I went all weak at the knees at the sight of Mika Hakkinen, and in true journalist style, I asked him about racing with Schumacher, he replied "Fantashtic". I wasn't going to stop there, I had talked to Mika and I was determined to mingle with more F1 drivers. When Pedro De La Rosa came along I made sure I chatted to him in Español, I wished Heiki Kovaleinen good luck for next year (he'll probably get the boot from McLaren if Kimi takes his seat) and to top it off I asked F1 legend Ross Brawn about the status of his beard he chuckled "I suppose I'll have to keep it". I will take this chance to express my deepest respect for Ross Brawn, he is F1 team owning elite, his team and driver had won the F1 championship a week prior to this event and yet with sheer humility, he went out of his way to ensure as many people as possible got a photo and/or autograph with him. He was there to meet the people who played one of the most important roles in his team's victory - the fans.

Enough of the hello magazine celeb news, this is a car blog about real cars. The Mercedes Benz Museum is full of them loads of classic 300SL gullwings were proudly on display outside and inside there were many a model from road and racing past and present. Unlike their Italian rivals: Ferrari, Mercedes open their Museum to the public for FREE. The free entry aside, the spectacular event had awesome drifting, racing and doughnut displays from the world famous Silver Arrows, they're a bit like the Red Arrows except they fly AMGs that don't actually fly. I will let you into a little secret, despite knowing more about F1 that your usual ex-children's tv turned F1 presenter, I had not seen nor heard an F1 car in action prior to this, so for those of you like me who mimic the whines and roars of their pitch perfect V8 engines, I kid you not, it's a million times better than sitting at home watching it on the telly. The thunder of the burnout practise starts and the clouds of smoke generated from the wheel-spins were biblical. Thankfully I captured the moment on tape here.

The new Mercedes SLS was on full display for the crowds of petrolheads, Merc's new supercar has a 6.3 litre V8 engine that kicks out 563 brake horses. Just like it's legendary forefather the 300SL, the SLS has "gullwing" doors that open upwards, which, like a George Foreman grill, still continues to amaze most people well into the 21st century.

What I'm about to say is essentially blasphemous towards my lifelong love of all that is Ferrari however, seeing is believing, and you have to put it to Mercedes-Benz they have made some legendary motor vehicles in their 128 year history, some of which I have taken a fond liking towards. The big question is: would I choose an SLS over a Ferrari 458 Italia? Probably not, but I'd prefer it to an f430 or an Audi R8 , simply because it's doors make me stare in awe.