257 – Professional Driver awards

IT’S been a busy time recently – as a judge. Not the judicial sort, but in my professional capacity. Recently there were the news agency Headlineauto automotive awards – my categories (two bumper ones!) were consumer magazine of the year; and features writer of the year.

The latter was particularly interesting to see how different writers approached their subjects; and whether it was for magazine, newspaper or online reading. That they were all good writers goes without saying; it’s always illuminating to understand their techniques to see how you might benefit in your own writing standards.

And then there were the Professional Driver awards. Mark Bursa, the editor of Business Van Manager – our sister van title – has recently taken on editing the mag. And he invited me along to Sandown Park to judge the line up.

It was a wet, grizzly sort of day. I parked the Audi close to the assembled contenders – everything from minibuses to high-end limos. This could be fun!

Indeed it was. I drove a range of cars: bargain SsangYong Rodius people mover to the wonderfully and eerily quiet Lexus LS hybrid. Move away and the car is in electric drive. And silent. The car is also so beautifully made, although one drawback was the lack of boot luggage space thanks to the hybrid drive’s battery.

And then there was the new BMW 7-series with its fantastic head-up display. Your speed – in amber – always glowed ahead of you beyond the windscreen, but never interfered with your overall vision. I look forward to the roll-out of this safety feature on more cars.