Many of the common place problems can be proactively diagnosed and dealt with before your holiday by your local garage and will give you extra confidence and reassurance that you will not be stuck on the back of a pick-up truck whilst the rest of your group is enjoying the delights of Monaco.

The usual culprits to check are:

• Fluid levels
• Last service interval - the next service could be due sooner than you think
• Tyres - you will be doing a lot of miles and circuit use will shorten their life even more dramatically
• Brakes - see Tyres above
• Steering and Tracking - not the thing to go on you when half way down the Stelvio Pass

Clearly this list can be by no means exhaustive, but hopefully the message is clear - if you don’t take care of your car, don’t expect it to take care of you.

We would advise that you bring with you:

• some additional oil, bearing in mind that most brands are readily available in Europe
• your car handbook as this may well list European dealers for your marque should the need arise