Jeremy I’ve spent the day interviewing Pippa Funnell – the equestrian rider who is probably Britain’s most successful, three-day event sportswoman.

Driving the Mini GP 100 miles to her Surrey stud was hard work, especially on the motorway stretches where noise levels are high. Then snow started to fall and the hills around Forest Green are riddled in deep, back crunching potholes. Not pleasant in a car with such robust suspension.

Exchanging the GP’s 215bhp for one horsepower should have been a more relaxing ride, except a highly tuned dressage horse is even less forgiving than an F1 car. At least the horse and the GP have one feature in common – an excellent heated seat.

The GP is heading back to Mini UK tomorrow and CarCouture will be exchanging keys for a BMW 6 Series Convertible, with the sublime, high-powered diesel engine. As we’re fed up with British weather, the plan is to take it over to France and check out the delights of Le Mans…

You can read about my riding exploits with Pippa in next weekend’s Financial Times Magazine.