Arriving right on time at 11am we were greeted outside by a rather excited female production assistant who "just had to come and see a ZO6 in the flesh" and very impressed she was too. Ex sports car driver turned TV presenter Tiff Needell emerged from the 'studio' and came right over to say hello, or so we thought!

Earlier in the series, Tiff had single handedly boasted ZO6 sales in the UK with a stunning display of handling, drifting and gushing praise for the ZO6 that concluded with the statement "The best value supercar on sale today - Aston Martin and Jaguar - eat your hearts out", so he was sure to be impressed to see one stand before him once again...perhaps not - "It's a bit dirty isn't it?" were his only and parting words as he headed off to make up...

Hmm, ok - Matt had travelled around 130 miles to bring the car to the studio on a grey December morning, but a locally recommended car hand wash cleaner was lined up so off we went. Returning 40 minutes later with Matt's paintwork now bearing the battle scar scratches that came free of charge with the hand wash, we entered the 'set' for the first time - crushing blow number two. Where were the stars, where was the glam set and red carpet? - clearly the budget had been trimmed for these awards as we entered an empty disused factory shrouded in almost complete darkness and lacking in any form of heating!

Still, the ZO6 was manoeuvred into position to take centre stage in the filming for the show, looking every bit the Hollywood star. Enter another star, presenter Tom Ford. Possibly the least known of the presenters, but over the course of the day, it became apparent that not only was he incredibly knowledgeable about anything on 4 wheels, due in no part to his additional position at 'Top Gear' magazine as a test driver / reporter, but he was also a hugely funny host and a genuinely interested listener to our views and observations.

He talked us through the show, the series and his thoughts on a number of cars including his interest in the ZO6, although the "massive" luggage space clearly took him by surprise when the trunk was opened. All of this helped the hours fly by until Tiff Needell returned to shoot the section that would announce that the ZO6 had sensationally beaten off all others, including the other two finalists, the Ferrari F599GTB and the Porsche 997TT to win the Fifth Gear 'Best Fast Car' award of 2006.

Time for lunch and we were invited to join the presenters who had by now been joined by a bubbly Jason Plato and off we headed to a local eatery - four venues later, we settled for a traditional English pub lunch.

It was a surreal meal as we sat and ate while watching Jason, Tiff and Tom run through the script that would present their individual arguments for the three finalists. Along the way, our help was also enlisted to answer a couple of ZO6 related questions.

Following the meal, it was back to the studio where the lunchtime script was placed to film in a few short takes ending in some hilarious Tom Ford adlibbing that was sadly of course destined to hit the cutting room floor.

His job done, Tiff said an end of year farewell to the small crew before also bidding Matt and I a goodbye.

The ZO6 made way for the other award winners to be driven into place as Tom and Jason ran through the segue and introductions that would make up the final section of the awards piece during the show. Their jobs done, both departed, with Tom set to jump on a plane to the south of France to film the Audi TT, winner of the overall car of the year award.

The clock then slowed to a crawl before Matt's car was once more called to centre stage for additional shots to be used in the usual 'arty' segue shots.

By now it was 8pm, nine hours after our arrival and we finally headed back out into the 'real' world in a car that is almost too good to be real. A film star it is and now officially an award winner, so perhaps Tiff's script should now be re-written. "The best value supercar on sale today - Ferrari and Porsche - eat your hearts out".

I'd like to thank Matt for kindly allowing me to join him at the filming and also to Tom Ford and all the Channel Five team. Thank you for your kind hospitality and for an interesting insight into the world of Motoring TV.

You can find around 50 more photographs from the filming in the Fifth Gear Awards Show Gallery.