Motoring

MrJWW's crazy month in cars

The car vlogger looks back on a month of supercar road trips, racing driver hangouts and tortoise selfies.

Written by MrJWW

9 min readPublished on 19.05.2017 · 15:13 UTC

Is YouTuber MrJWW living the perfect petrolhead lifestyle? Er, yeah, yeah he is.

This month, the car vlogger has hit Monaco, Corsica and Sardinia, convoying down from the UK in his orange AF McLaren 675LT along with fellow YouTubers Supercars of London, Seen Through Glass and Seb Delanney, as well as hanging out with former F1 racer Bruno Senna.

It's been a busy month for MrJWW
© MrJWW

We’ve asked MrJWW to share his experiences from the past 30 days to give us a little taste of his life in the literal fast lane. Here's what he's been up to…

Platinum anchors and golden biscuits at Top Marques Monaco

MrJWW exclusive column for Red Bull for May 2017 — Monaco had more supercars in it than normal
© MrJWW

Every year around mid-April on the Côte d'Azur, a supercar show takes place called Top Marques Monaco. While it originally started out as a show with the latest and greatest cars from renowned manufacturers and tuners on display, in recent years it has evolved to cater for a 'wider lifestyle' – or should I say, the wider Monégasque lifestyle. Upon first walking into the show this year, you were presented with gold-coated macaroons and platinum-plated anchors; yes, something you literally throw to the bottom of the sea was clad in one of the world’s most valuable resources!

Now this isn't to say that Top Marques is all show and no go; it is actually a fascinating event, with some truly outstanding cars. My personal favourite this year was the re-imagination of the classic Mini Cooper by David Brown – essentially an augmented, better quality classic Mini tailored to modern day standards. However, with the gold-clad confectionary and uber-excessive accessories on show this year, I can't help but feel that the petrolhead passion has become somewhat diluted at Top Marques – which is why we head down to Monaco for what’s actually going on outside the show rather than inside!

The show acts as the first major event of the year, and really kickstarts the European automotive season. For that week, Monaco is flooded with a deluge of supercars from all over the continent looking to dust off the cobwebs and stretch their legs after a long winter hibernation. I drove down from the UK in the McLaren 675LT, accompanied by three other friends and YouTubers in equally exotic cars for this awesome week of high-octane action. For us, it's content paradise, and I highly recommend anyone who likes supercars and sunshine (and gold-plated Oreos) to visit the show next April. It really is a spectacle!

Face to face with a tortoise

April was all about road trips. After my visit to Monaco, I hit the road once again with my fellow YouTubers to Corsica and Sardinia, with the sole purpose of finding some fantastic driving roads. Heading east out of Monaco and crossing the border into Italy and down to Livorno to catch the first ferry to Corsica sees you drive through a spectrum of stunning coastal landscapes. One section just outside of Genoa gave me a swift shot of nostalgia – the mountains and foliage reminded me so much of Jurassic Park!

Catching a ferry in any sports car can be a tricky affair, but the McLaren takes impractical to a new level

A few hours later and you're into Livorno, an old industrial shipping town with endless rustic character. Catching a ferry in any sports car can be a tricky affair due to the inherent nature of their ride height, but the McLaren takes impractical to a new level. The four-wheel lift system, which allows me to temporarily gain some valuable inches between the carbon fibre tub and the rusty ferry floor, only took me so far until the inevitable scratching and scraping on the front splitter. It's the kind of noise that makes you clench your buttocks tight – and your wallet even tighter! After inspecting the car upon boarding, thankfully it was only the protective plastic faring that had taken the impact.

Corsica is a stunning island. It feels untouched compared to the likes of Mallorca or Ibiza; the scenery is breathtaking, and the roads are full of surprises! My friend Paul was heading up our convoy in his Lamborghini Huracán when he came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the road, hopped out and ran to the front of his car ecstatically signalling to us. Bewilderment turned to hysterics when I saw he was ushering a tortoise across the hot asphalt, safely out of the way of the cars and back to the undergrowth. It's not every day you can have a selfie with a tortoise and a Lamborghini!

Ferry number two lands us in Sardinia and what transpired to be an island of outstanding driving roads. The first piece of tarmac you hit after rolling off the ferry is something to behold – I can't help but think that whoever designed this route threw all practicality out of the window and decided to lay down a roller coaster of asphalt on the most indirect route possible, just to savour the sweeping curves and horizons of Mother Nature’s playground.

We almost always have our cameras rolling, but not one of us decided to film the occasion

Upon arrival on the island, the sun was setting and we very quickly fell into a hypnotic rhythm of twisty undulations and tight switchbacks drenched in iridescent sepia sunlight. As content creators, we almost always have our cameras rolling, but a funny thing happened in that moment – out of all four of us, not one decided to film the occasion. Arguably one of, if not the best, moment of driving we'd had all week. I guess some moments are simply there to be remembered. And remember it we will, probably for the rest of our lives.

Porsche's new 991 GT3.2

The second generation Porsche 991 GT3 is here! I haven't driven it yet, but I covered 20,000 miles owning the Gen 1 last year and, based on that, all I can say is that I desperately want the new one. Just a few highlights: it’s all about the engine, up from 3.8 to 4.0 litres, and essentially the block out of Porsche’s racecar. It's now running 500bhp from a naturally-aspirated flat-six engine that revs to 9,000rpm.

After talking with the Porsche guys at the Geneva Motor Show, the summary is (as with most Porsche evolutions) that the feeling is greater than the sum of its parts. Downforce is up, aero drag is down, making it more slippery through the air but stickier through the corners. A re-worked gearbox makes the already unfathomably fast shifts even faster. Oh, and it just set a ludicrous 7m12.07s lap time at the Nürburgring, knocking 12 seconds off the previous GT3's time. Needless to say, there is a long waiting list – and it’s by invite only.

Presenting the future at the Formula E Monaco ePrix

Formula E is really making waves and pushing boundaries these days. It's only the third season of the all-electric racing series and the cars are already distinctly quicker than they were last year. For the 2017 Monaco ePrix, I hosted a Facebook live broadcast for Panasonic Jaguar Racing. It was an honour to be part of the team for the race weekend, and it felt like we were making a little bit of history by hosting the brand’s first ever Facebook live show. This wasn't my first rodeo, but nevertheless, the 10-second countdown before you go live on air creates an intense moment of adrenaline and focus before the cameras start rolling. Those 10 seconds feel longer than the entire 45-minute show – and then once you're in the moment, it flies by!

The show covered a plethora of topics and activities, featuring a head-to-head challenge with both of the team drivers Adam Carroll and Mitch Evans for a chance to win extra Fanboost, a digital currency that translates into real world extra power in the cars during the race. I also interviewed Ian Callum, Jaguar's Design Director, about the Jaguar iPace Concept – a truly groundbreaking all-electric SUV that’s launching soon. I had the privilege of driving the iPace Concept a few weeks back. This vehicle is really ahead of the curve, being the first series production electric car to come from any of the major manufacturers. It will be fascinating to witness the tech transfer from the i-Type Formula E racecars to their new electric road car.

All in all, I'm really excited for the future of electric cars – but I'm also curious to see how emotion is going to be engineered into vehicles with no rudimentary loud engines.

A day with Bruno Senna

I've inadvertently become an unofficial McLaren ambassador lately, to the degree that the Formula E broadcasters referred to me as "Mr McLaren". In the last few months, I've been ice driving in the Arctic Circle in a 570S, attended the Geneva International Motor Show for the launch of the new McLaren 720S and did the return drive in a 540C en route to the first drive of the 720S in Rome.

Amid all the fun, I had the pleasure of crossing paths with Bruno Senna several times, sharing a car in the snow and ice and bonding over our mutual appreciation for the McLaren 675LT – a car we both own. I promised Bruno I would share with him one of my all time favourite driving roads in the south of France, which to his surprise was a mere hour's drive from where he lives. So heading to Monaco recently, we hopped in his 675LT Spider and headed for the D2202 – a road I quickly renamed the "Red Rock Road" for obvious reasons.

When you're in the car with a man who shares his second name with one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time, it's hard not to want to talk about Ayrton and his legacy. Truth be told, Bruno is a fascinating racer in his own right and an absolute pleasure to hang out with. You might expect that all we talked about was cars and racing, but actually it was awesome to simply share a McDonald’s drive-thru, chat about flying drones, hilarious YouTube videos and life in Monaco as a travelling racing driver.

They say you can tell a lot about a person by the spec of their car – or at least I say that anyway! Bruno's stunning McLaren 675LT Spider is entirely matte black on the outside, with a subtle flash of orange from the brake callipers. The tell-tale sign of his extra attention to detail, however, is on the inside. Equally understated, black alcantara clads every surface that isn't carbon fibre. But a small spectrum of three bright colours occupy the switch gear right in the middle of the central console. Blue. Yellow. Green. The unmistakable palette of the Brazilian flag.

Stay tuned for more next month!

MrJWW monthly column — Catch you later!
© MrJWW

For more from MrJWW, check out his YouTube channel and give him a follow on Instagram