I've spent the past couple of days in the deserts of Abu Dhabi - not far from the border with the 'women drivers will eradicate virgins' kingdom of Saudi Arabia - checking out the X-raid MINI team whilst they test their 2014 Dakar contender.

They'll be finding sand in every crevice for weeks.

If you're one of the wealthiest emirates in the Middle East, you can easily afford to have your own international motorsport event come to town.

Last week at a cold, rainy Silverstone circuit I met Lewis Hamilton in the cosy warmth of the swank BRDC Clubhouse for a chat about F1, off-track life and his recent Top Gear UK fastest lap. Even though he's one of the busiest men on the planet right now, he still had the time to rightly take the piss out of my crappy …

I've spent the past four days in the French Alps, watching a World Champion Rally Raid driver accelerate towards a metal ramp in his MINI Countryman, before sailing skyward 360 degrees and landing on what can only be described as the world's biggest whoopee cushion.

Let's not beat around the proverbial shrubbery: I'm lucky enough to have an awesome job as Motorsport Communications Manager for a leading energy drink manufacturer and it would be pretty damn rude of me to keep this fun-fuelled life all to myself.