IN THIS FEATURE A bunch of sad losers? Head for the track Trucks flying 20 metres Bashing in no time Fun until the fuel runs out

After a mad dash down the muddy straight, I hit the ramp and my truck launches into the air. Got to keep the throttle planted to keep the momentum going so the truck does a proper somersault. If I back off, the truck will lose speed and fall to the ground on its roof.

No, I'm not a ram-raider; I'm standing in a muddy field next to an MOD rifle range in the Surrey countryside with a group of men playing with radio controlled cars. Sad losers, you may think, but these are no ordinary radio-controlled cars - these can do somersaults and they run on drag racer fuel - now that's cool.

Our Tom at the controls

Radio controlled cars have come a long way since I was a kid. Back then you could outrun one on foot and any attempt at a stunt would leave you with a broken car and angry parents. The car I'm going to try out, or RC Truck to give the proper name, is an HPI Savage 25: a 1/8th scale monster truck with four-wheel drive, fully independent suspension, roll bar and bling-bling rims.

The truck is fitted with a 0.25 cubic inch engine which kicks out 2.5bhp, and revs to a sky-high 38,000rpm. That power figure might seem fairly pathetic, but you've got to remember, the truck only weighs 5 kilos. This bestows upon it a power to weight ratio of 500bhp per tonne - more than a Ferrari Enzo or a Porsche Carrera GT. Straight out of the box the Savage 25 is capable of 38mph - a scale speed of 304mph! If that's not mad enough you can change the engine for a bigger unit, add a performance exhaust or free-flowing air filter to increase the speed even more.