F1 Racing: Villeneuve. Nordschleife. M5. Sorted.

It begins inauspiciously. I've strapped myself into a white BMW M5 Nurburgring Ring-Taxi next to Jacques Villeneuve. He's distractedly and unsuccessfully trying to click his seatbelt in place while fidgeting to get comfortable in his BMW-Sauber race overalls. He's also grappling with the unfamiliar electric rear-view mirror controls while simultaneously reversing uphill out of a narrow gap crowded with curious onlookers.

"Right," he says, flicking on the air-con. "Do you know where we're going?"

"What?" I reply. "Haven't you driven round this place before?"

"Er, no," he offers. "Have you?"

It transpires that F1 Racing is sharing Villeneuve's first-ever laps of the mighty Nordschleife, the 14-mile switchback that twists, dives and soars through the spectacular Eifel countryside. It's a track that was deemed so dangerous it was blackballed by Formula 1 back in 1976 - an era when breaking your legs was still thought to be a 'safe' shunt. In short, it's revered as the most challenging circuit in the world.