The Great British Car Rally and Motor Show

8.00, Thursday 31st May, Jablonna Palace just outside Warsaw a pack of 15 Great British motoring icons line up on the palatial courtyard for scrutineering. E type jags, Rolls Royces, Austin Healeys, an MG and leading the pack a Lotus 7, a testimony to Colin Chapman and British racing excellence. The British and Poles are mad about their cars. But these cars are something special. In our superb London 2012 year a Great British car rally right in the heart of Warsaw – a dream come true for drivers and their navigators alike.

10.30 on the dot the Lotus sponsored 7 screams out of the Palace gates on to a 100km     run around the Mazovian region. A 500kg, 180 horsepower machine delivering 0-100km in 4 seconds. Top down, a bright sunny day, driver and navigator team Martin Oxley, Director UKTI at the British Embassy and Pawel Siwecki, Operations Director at the BPCC. The car may not be vintage but the driver certainly is. I haven’t driven one of these since Oulton Park 25 years ago. Wow! – exhilarating, breathtaking acceleration and the whole line up a credit to Great British engineering excellence.

It is wonderful to see a thriving classic sporting car scene in Poland. A few bemused faces as we make our way across the Mazovian countryside. A Great event supported by Great British brands BP, RSA and Lotus, driven by enthusiasts and made possible by the Polish Classic Car Club and Sporting Association. A Great day out in Poland’s beautiful, blooming countryside.

By 16.30 most of the cars had made it back in time to take part in a Concours d’elegance, a proud parade of Britishness – elegant cars, drivers and crew dressed in contemporary attire – the ceremony and awards led by Ryszard Kalisz a well known politician in Poland and car fanatic. An appreciative audience reminiscing back to the glory days of British motoring about to revel in the peak of automotive innovation.

Waiting back in the paddock was a collection of modern British automotive icons – a meeting of true vintage with modern automotive grunt – a top of the range Aston Martin DBS, a 6 litre V 12 which converts into nearly 800 horsepower; the Lotus Evora – tantalisingly challenging to a Porsche 911, certainly more balanced and looking as though it would give it a hard challenge. The new Range Rover Evoque currently taking the UK by storm and just launched in Poland. The new Landrover Discovery 4 – increased comfort, power and visibility. The sleak new Jaguar XJ. A staggering line up kindly provided for the occasion by Warsaw’s leading British car dealership.

A truly memorable occasion. A testament to Great British cars. A tapestry of classic car preservation in Poland and a fantastic display of British motoring mania. Great to see us rolling out the Astons, Jaguars and Rovers to crown a day of Great British Motoring to mark The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and a Great British Year of Sport!