CIRCUIT DAY

After three days of assessing their behaviour on the road, it's time to head to the Circuito de Navarra to find out how our nine contenders respond when their handling limits are explored

- RICHARD MEADEN

ROAD DRIVING HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE HEART AND soul of eCoty, yet we often include an element of track driving in our annual supertest. The worthy reasons are obvious: the opportunity to explore the performance of the contenders more fully, and to get some big action shots for the photographers and videographers in a safe environment. It's also bloody good fun.

The last time we included some circuit driving was back in 2020, with a preliminary 16-car shoot-out held at evo's second home, Anglesey Circuit, before the eight finalists headed to the Scottish Borders to fight it out on road. This year, not content with having some of northern Spain's finest roads to explore, we've built in a day at the Circuito de Navarra. Opened in 2010 it was acquired by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation in 2022. Spick-and-span after a recently completed upgrade and circuit extension, it has a strangely home-from-home feel, evo's UK office being just a stone's throw from JP's similarly immaculate Bedford Autodrome site.

Situated less than an hour from eCoty HQ in Pamplona and just 30 minutes' drive from the heart of the Rioja wine region (a fact that's entirely coincidental, honest), Navarra's new circuit layout packs a lot into its 2.68-mile lap. A long main straight will stretch the legs of the more powerful cars, but big braking areas will be a stern test of the heavier cars' stopping stamina. I'm looking at you, RS6. The tighter and more technical sections will test agility and traction, while a long looping uphill section should be perfect for Aston Parrott's regulation drift shots.