The story went like this. There was only one CCXR in existence, the first-ever biofuel-powered Koenigsegg. Now the possession of a valued customer, the worth of this car was said to be greater even than its £606,000 price tag suggested.

The understanding was that once the Stig and I had spent enough time at the wheel to secure our cover feature, one of Koenigsegg's senior engineers would take over the responsibility of driving the car between photographic locations for us. We'd all be safer that way.

And so it was that I found myself a passenger in the biggest crash I've ever experienced.

Between the blur of the approach, the hit, the spins, the ditches, the field, the adrenaline, the shouts, the blue lights and the picking out of pieces of grit and dirt from my eyes, ears and scalp, some details I can remember.

1. We were travelling faster than I was comfortable with at that moment, on that road. 120mph is a conservative estimate of our speed at the point of first impact.

2. The engineer who was driving may well have forgotten that he had unbolted the rear venturi only moments before, to assist with the process of fitting camera equipment to the underside of the car at a location we were expecting to arrive at only a little further up the road. I really can't say. What I can say is that the venturi would have been good for 100kg of rear downforce at the speed we were travelling at.

3. After accelerating hard up a long straight, the driver turned into a potentially open but partially blind right hander.

4. The largest traffic cone known to man had been left on the inside of the corner; a six-foot high lump of orange plastic with a solid, square-edged, extremely heavy base. We hit it.