Clarkson Powered Up

My base? - The high-tech testing ground for Formula One - Circuit Paul Ricard.

My mission? - To find find my favourite car of the year.

My candidates? - For starters there's a pair of Ferraris... the V12, 6.3 litre FF and the 458.

There’s the UK challenger to the 458... McLaren’s MP4-12C. Joining the action are the latest gizmo-laden Nissan GTR, Porsche's GT2 RS, the 570-horsepower Lamborghini Performante and the built-for-fun BMW 1M.

Helping me are tame racing driver The Stig and the not-so-tame Formula One new boy, Karun Chandhok. I look into the future - in the shape of the hybrid-engined Mugen Honda CR-Z... And there are blasts from the past as well. The beautiful Eagle Speedster - a modern twist on the iconic, timeless E-Type...with its 4.7 litre engine - and an eye-watering £500,000 price tag. And there's the all new Jensen Interceptor R with its 6.2 litre Corvette motor.

Plus, from the minds of boffins at a German museum, there’s the mighty Brutus...a vintage car fitted with a flame-spitting BMW airplane engine. Also there’s enough in-your-face power to flambé your eyebrows from the single-seater, super-lightweight B.A.C. Mono - capable of 0-60 in 2.8 seconds.

Circuit Paul Ricard tests all these cars and more to the limit...

But it's not all about performance on the track. I take to the open road to see if small can be beautiful. I squeeze my sizeable know-how into the bonkers Citroen DS3 Racing, the pocket rocket Abarth 500C and the dinky Renault Clio Cup.

How to sum up all this action...Well, I sit in a chair, a man has a mishap....And a brown car goes round a corner....

What more could you want?...

ENJOY.....