Detour #282: On Road and Track in the Hills of Seville, Spain

a few LAPS of a Track, a blast into the hills and an insight into the life of a road tester, courtesy of Stephen DObie.

The world of automotive press junkets is both vast and small. It spans the globe, encompassing dozens of companies and thousands of their staff, and yet many of the faces and places soon become familiar. The former is very welcome; it means friendly folk to share food with and snare vital product information from.

As for the latter? Revisiting old haunts makes a lot of sense for carmakers, both from a logistical point of view and knowing the roads are good enough to fittingly showcase your new product. If they’re as dazzling as this one, journalists usually doesn’t mind the odd return trip either…

Seville certainly gets the weather you need for a sparkling media event, so much so that Ferrari broke all manner of tradition by launching its groundbreaking 296 GTB hybrid there in 2022 instead of its Italian homeland – which, in February, might still have been a little frosty in places. Just a few months later Toyota presented the no-less-fun GR86 there. A fraction of the price and power, but just as adept on the route we’re about to enjoy.

The journey begins with a few laps of Circuito Monteblanco, a relatively new track built in the mid-Noughties and whose pit garages curiously (but cutely) resemble a well-kept holiday villa complex. It’s a great facility, offering several different layouts to best enjoy a performance car whether it has a hundred or a thousand horsepower. It does public trackdays, too.

Comprehensive automotive journalism verdicts arrive on the road, though, so it’s soon time to leave and head north on the HU-4103. A slightly clunky name for a sinuous road that’ll unlock the secrets of any car you drive upon it. The journey begins on vast, flat plains punctuated only by pylons, with long straights and smooth curves that ease you into the trip (and your analysis).

As the road rises, so does the scenery around it, taller trees and red rocks beginning to line up either side of the tarmac as the turns get tighter. Warmth now in the tyres, you can lean on the car’s grip, gain trust in its reactions as you delve deeper into what it can do. Which in the case of a plug-in hybrid Ferrari with over 800 horsepower, is ‘rather a lot’. Yet such is the Maranello magic – especially when it comes to wickedly clever electronics – that a car of such prodigious outputs feels just as fluid and approachable as a 231bhp, 1.2-tonne Toyota on a road that gets more technical as the miles pile on.

There are sections where it feels like the steering wheel is never straight, that your hands are always in motion. But no complaints here. The only thing such concentration denies you is a decent look at the expanding views.

After around 30 minutes (and 28km) you’ll reach a junction; turning right will lead you to the narrow streets of Berrocal and more country lanes spilling out the other side. A detour within a Detour, if you have time.

But we’re turning left onto the HU-5104, which continues the vibe of the 4103 and offers several dusty laybys to pull over for a breather, a phone snap and a chance to make some vital notes. Its 15km is more verdant but no less enthralling to drive, eventually spilling you onto the wider, busier N-435 with its lorries, speed traps and other paraphernalia to encourage a calmer drive back to the circuit and a chance to consider your verdict.

Or, when the car’s as good as these two, there’s always the option of turning round to go back the fun way…

Words Stephen Dobie
Photography Ferrari / Toyota

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ROADBOOK

CLASS: Roadtest ROute

NAME: SEVILLE BY ROAD AND TRACK

ROUTE: Circuito Monteblanco TO Circuito Monteblanco

COUNTRY: SPAIN

Distance: 64 Miles

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