RACERS

Wings and racing DNA aren't the only things these three have in common... they represent the road less travelled

- JETHRO BOVINGDON

These are the outliers.

THE ALTERNATIVES. AND FOR THAT, I ALREADY LOVE THEM. LIFE AT the margins of automotive enthusiasm is intriguing, highly specialised and seems gripped by our collective fever at unprecedented levels. It's also incredibly diverse and bristling with the unexpected. Of all the cars in our lineup, the appeal of the Maserati GT2 Stradale, Kimera EVO37 and Praga Bohema is the hardest to predict. The following few days could be triumph or disaster. Or, perhaps worse, a kind of 'yeah, not bad' indifference.

Or maybe all three. Wandering along the pit boxes before any car has turned a wheel, you get a tangible sense of each contender's star quality. The Maserati fades to grey. Parked just a few yards from Manthey's terrifyingly focused take on the GT3 RS, it seems halfhearted. Almost meek. The Bohema balances aggression, elegance and aerodynamic efficiency with an artful touch, but its purity is also a little intimidating. People are drawn in but quickly scared off.

The Kimera is different. It is gorgeous and tiny and endlessly, impossibly cool. When its booming four cylinder supercharged and turbocharged engine fires into life, the Ferrari mechanics tending to the 12Cilindri in the next garage burst into applause and, literally, embrace. Italians, eh? Except the Manthey guys also want to poke around it, eyes and smiles wide. Aston Martin's, too. Oh, and the M-Sport crew here to support the Raptor T1+. In fact, everyone circles the EVO37, giggles, gasps and nods in deep appreciation for a good 10 minutes. Kimera's tribute to Lancia's Group B hero is tiny in scale but has awesome impact.