Some of you may not know this, but I’m a huge fan of motorbikes. It’s a bit of a passion of mine and if I’m going to spend out on something petrol-powered it’s highly likely to have two wheels, not four.

Over the last bank holiday weekend I went to watch the superbikes at Brands Hatch where one of our very own GT-R works hard as the safety car.

Watching the racers only served to make me want a new bike even more so I spent a bit too much time on the Ducati stand checking out one of the new models I’d had my eye on.

The staff on the stand were brilliant and answered all of my questions with ease. I was so impressed I booked a test ride with the hosting dealer, despite the fact it was 55 miles away from home.

After trying it for size it didn’t take much to persuade me to ease the credit card from my wallet and I’m now looking forward to enjoying it during a dry summer (fingers crossed). The whole experience also served to hammer home to me just how important dealer events are as key selling tools.

And the winner is…

We’ve had our own event here at Maple Cross HQ too. The enthusiasts’ website Pistonheads holds regular events called Sunday Service at places of interest around the country and invites people to come and show off their cars and have a bacon roll.

We were happy to open up our car park and canteen for them on a Sunday morning and brought along some of our own cars to show off. There was a lot of interest in the GT-R, 370Z and LEAF of course, and we have got some good sales leads to share with you.

The day’s highlights for me included a Ferrari Enzo and a crazy 800bhp tuned GT-R, but the Pistonheaders themselves gave the prize for ‘car of the show’ to the most unexpected arrival of the day – an immaculate, bright orange Austin Maxi. I think the owner deserved the award just for being brave enough to bring it!