'SORRY, WHAT DID YOU SAY?' I ASK, BACKING OFF a little. 'I think we must have missed our turn,' Aston Parrott says again. I back off some more and look around. Hmmm, he's right; the jagged peaks aren't where I expected them to be. As we coast along, down the road the tail of the third sports bike disappears around a corner, like a fish wriggling off the hook.
Ten minutes earlier we'd been wandering around a French village eating ice creams, having failed to get something proper to eat, again. This time we were an hour early for dinner. Last time we were half an hour late for lunch. As we drove away from the village, three noisy sports bikes came up in the mirror and overtook at the first opportunity, one of them indicating thanks or maybe approving of the DB12 with a shake of the foot, before howling off and cranking into a series of sweeps. It was clear that they were local and knew the road, so I wondered if we could tag along.
Turns out we could. It's a big car the DB12, a fairly heavy one too, and yet each time I leaned on the grip a bit more, the car responded, nailing the precise line. The surface was smooth and warm and the Aston jinked sweetly through a sequence of fast flik-flaks like a car half its size. Confidence up, on every short straight the throttle hit the stop, the 671bhp, twin-turbo V8 whirred and a solid thump of power brought down the gap. After a couple of kilometres we were on the tail of the last bike and had a great view of him leaning hard into the turns. He was dropping back a little from the front two and I was just wondering if a trio-splitting overtake would be rude when a noise broke the spell: 'I think we must have missed our turn...'
Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Cupra Formentor Abt
It's farewell to the original Cupra Formentor with an Abt-tuned run-out package. It's a quietly excellent car; just a shame about the price...
Renault Sport Clio 200 Turbo
This misguided departure from the French brand's hot hatch heritage saw the Clio fall from grace
REBIRTH OF AN ICON
The Kalmar 9X9 is a modernday reinterpretation of Porsche's game-changing 959 supercar, with a carbon body and up to 917bhp. And evo is helping to develop it
Volkswagen Golf GTI
The underachieving Mk8 GTI gets a shot at redemption with the new, revised Mk8.5 version. Is it the leap forward it needs to be?
BEST BUYS
FAST FORDS FROM THE CORTINA TO THE ESCORT AND THE FIESTA, Ford is responsible for some of the most popular cars in British history. But alongside these everyday machines it has also produced a stream of desirable driver's cars.
HY AND DRY
The switch to electric power means an early exit for Hyundai N's brilliant ICE hot hatch duo. We go for a farewell drive in the 120 N
SEXY BEAST
The Vanquish name is back for Aston Martin's latest seriesproduction flagship, with a stunning new look and simply brutal performance from an 824bhp twin-turbo V12
THE JOY OF DRIVING
From mastering the everyday commute to unlocking the full potential of your performance car, our new series will help you become safer, more confident and ultimately more skilled behind the wheel
TINY DANCER
You haven't seen a Mini dance like this before, but then you haven't seen a Mini with a 4-litre M Power V8 under the bonnet and rear-wheel drive. Introducing Vini...
LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO
Grandaddy to the Temerario and the car that transformed Lamborghini was the brilliant, V10-engined Gallardo. We get reacquainted with a Lambo legend