I love cars. I mean it, I’m obsessive about them. When I heard the Top Gear UK guys were coming to Australia I pretty much didn’t rest until I was sure I had tickets sorted out for it. If there is motorsport on the TV, I get all my work out of the way in plenty of time so that I can set up in front of the screen with some supplies and get myself ready to watch it in comfort. It’s that important to me. So when a friend gave me a link to a website that allowed you to sign up to be a passenger in an off-road endurance race I was happier than a dog with two tails.

I got myself sorted out well in advance. I hit the net not only to get myself signed up, but to buy in a whole bunch of supplies. It’s that word – endurance – that made me aware that I would need to be well prepared. There is no point in turning up for an endurance race in the clothes you stand up in with a bag containing a couple of cans of soft drink and a bag of chips. I bought a decent, sturdy rucksack, some warm clothes and a hydration pack. If something goes wrong and you’re out in the middle of a desert then there really isn’t any point in standing around waiting for someone to come and help you. You can radio for assistance, but you need to be pretty confident that you can deal with things yourself as well. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail, as the old saying goes.

When the big day came, then, I turned up early to meet the guy who would be driving – I’d love to have been at the wheel myself, but you really need to see this kind of thing being done before you get to do it yourself. It’s important to experience that so that you can see exactly what it takes. Also, it allowed me to ask a lot of questions and absorb some information from a pro. The driver, Gary, was a fairly personable guy – wicked sense of humour, but not impatient or cruel when saddled with a novice like me. Everything I asked, he answered with good grace, and boy, could he drive.

The problem came on day two, when one of the tires blew out. The car skidded off the track and I smashed into the dashboard. I was wearing a seatbelt – honest! – but the impact still cut into my arm and left me bleeding pretty nicely. Gary was braced and came off not too badly, and I had to ask him to grab my rucksack and pull out my hydration packs. He washed out the wound and dressed it, and then got out to look at the damage. Fortunately the car was pretty much unhurt aside from the tire, and once the spare was fitted we set back off again. However, it makes you think – if it hadn’t been for the hydration pack, I’d have been in some nasty shape for a while. Fail to prepare…