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There are big, saw-toothed kerbs at Le Castellet, and ex-F1 driver Tiago Monteiro isn’t afraid to use them. We only have access to one loop of this amazing circuit, formerly known as Paul Ricard, now owned by a certain Bernard Ecclestone, Esq., but it’s fast enough to get a car airborne. Especially if you’re launching it into the apexes the way Tiago is.

“Feels good, huh?” he says, while the jugga-jugga-jugga of the kerb’s serrated edges assails the car’s chassis, and he winds on an armful of opposite lock. Then we’re off towards the next corner, fully crossed-up, bouncing off the kerbs again, before catapulting up the straight with a ripe V8 roar.

Words: Jason Barlow
Photography: Ripley & Ripley  

This feature was originally published in the January issue of Top Gear magazine