Driving on the UK Top Gear track

The airfield, a former military base hidden in lush green countryside about an hour south-east of central London, is best described as shabby.

Yet there is no denying the magic in the place, thanks to Top Gear. Dunsfold is the place where the world's favourite motoring show is filmed and also houses the test track where The Stig - whoever or whatever he is this week - does his stuff.

Hitting the Top Gear track in the McLaren MP4-12C, with a British touring car race winner along to point the corners, is a win-win-win in anyone's book. Best of all, there are no limits. So long as the car comes back undamaged, the McLaren men are happy to have their car pushed right to the edge. After watching the Stig-ring for years on the television I think I knew it well.

But the first surprise is discovering that it's actually a figure-of-eight layout, with a crossover where Chicago corner goes right and the 'tyres' take you left.

The second surprise is the runway surface, which is bumpy, broken in places, skittery across some painted markings, and gives you almost zero marker points for braking and turning.

So it's not an easy place to drive. It's a giant challenge in a car that cranks the speedo round past 230km/h in places and corners at well over 160.

But the McLaren at Dunsfold is F-U-N. We're not playing with Top Gear slides and burnouts, just trying to learn the car and get the maximum speed and grip over every lap, and my adrenalin is pumping.

Anything that gets into the 1 minute 20-second bracket on the Power Wall is quick at Dunsfold, and the McLaren settles there easily thanks to its twin-turbo V8, track-tuned adjustable suspension, giant carbon brakes and lightweight race-style construction.

It whacks out of corners with a big surge of turbo thrust, brakes incredibly late, and gives you metre-by-metre feedback and grip in every corner. The back slides wide on me a couple of times, once under power and once when I misjudge my braking, and there is some turbo lag, but the 12C is basically a thoroughbred racing car with the comforts of a luxury limo.

I get my last big surprise during a full-on race launch when the car rockets to 100km/h in less than four seconds before pushing me over the blind brow that hides the left-handed first corner at more than 200km/h. It is spooky fast.

Just when I think it cannot get any better, Jackson chimes in from the passenger seat. "One-nineteen point four. Not bad," he says. At that point we park. Job done.