A day in Abu Dhabi with AMG

After watching enviously as the Formula 1 circus arrived in town to tackle the brand new Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, I’ve finally had a chance to try the track myself.

AMG, the tuning arm of Mercedes-Benz, held a driving day for its Middle Eastern customers and were kind enough to invite a few journalists along as well.

The event allowed us to drive a decent selection of the AMG range, but for many there the real treat was to try out the racetrack that the whole world has been talking about.

I was lucky enough to see the track from the stands during the F1 weekend, but all I really wanted to do was get out on the tarmac in a worthy car.

Now I have. And I’m pleased to report that the Yas Marina track is great fun.

We started off in the new E63 AMG, a 518bhp version of the latest E-Class with uprated sports suspension. Alas, health and safety dictated that we weren’t allowed to just grab the keys and roar off towards the Sun Tower – rather, we had to follow a pace car. Albeit a C63 AMG pace car with a snarling exhaust and full roll cage, driven by a racing driver.

Even with no one in the stands, the experience of driving around the Yas Marina is really something. Heading out of the pits and through the tunnel is a novel experience for any driver – it’s the only pit exit of its kind in the world. The exit lane runs up a surprisingly steep hill and then goes straight into a blind right hander over a crest that heads down hill to a chicane and then a tight left-hand hairpin, in front of the huge North Grandstand.

From there, we powered up the 1.4km-long long straight – a chance to really hear the E63’s 6.3-litre engine sing, before braking hard from around 250kph in front of the West Grandstand.

It’s at this point that the Formula 1 cars using the full circuit would blast off towards the Marina and Yas Hotel, but we were using the North Loop configuration of the track and so turned left and back onto the main straight, heading down at full throttle between the grandstands, past the pits, towards the Sun Tower and the left hander heading up hill towards the pit exit. Blasting under the hotel will have to wait for another day.

The E63 is a very impressive machine with bags of power and a glorious exhaust note, but it’s a touch heavy for the track. Much more fun was the SL65 roadster, with which we competed in several drag races and an autocross competition.

We then had a chance to see how one should really drive around the track, courtesy of AMG’s German touring car driver Bruno Spengler. If ever there’s a way of making you realise just how good professional racers are, it’s to go out on a hot lap with them.

I consider myself to be a moderately decent driver, but after being strapped into the C63, Bruno soon showed me otherwise. The speed and precision with which he attacked every single part of the track was astounding. He used all the track and more in keeping his speed to the maximum possible at all times, and looked completely relaxed while doing it.

Invigorated, if slightly humbled, we then had one final blast around the track and I jumped straight into the smallest car there, the SLK55. Although many, especially here in the Middle East, tend to favour larger cars with more power, it was the SLK that proved the most fun around the Yas Marina track.

The lightweight two-seater proved an absolute hoot, especially with a 5.5-litre V8 with 360bhp powering it. Its light weight made it easy to control and adjust when on the limit. Astoundingly good as the other, larger cars are, there’s only so much that mechanics can do to increase performance – you can’t battle physics, and that’s why the SLK was my pick of the day.

The event proved an interesting sample of the AMG range. I didn’t really get enough time in each car to get a thorough impression of it, but it was nevertheless a good introduction to the AMG ethos – the luxury of Mercedes-Benz, but with much more sporting performance.

But it was also fantastic to get familiar with the Yas Marina circuit – it really does blow other regional facilities out of the water, and I expect to see many more manufacturers holding events there in the near future.