The event took place at the industrial park and circuit complex near Godalming - better known as the location of the Top Gear test track.
The day was hosted by Kia, Mazda and headlineauto.com and saw a morning of informal lectures from industry chiefs followed by an afternoon driving Kias and Mazdas on the road and circuit respectively.
First up was Jeremy Thomson, Managing Director of Mazda Motors UK, who gave an excellent presentation on economic trends that impact upon the car industry, in particular analysing the impact of the recent scrappage incentive.
Steve Cropley, Haymarket Group's Editor-in-Chief, was next offering some invaluable advice on how to get ahead as motoring journalists - put simply: "Fight like buggery" and "always remember your reader".
Finally Steve Kitson, Communications Director of Kia Motors (UK) Ltd., discussed the importance of having a two-way relationship between PR officers and journalists and how best to ensure this works.
This was of particular interest to me and was particularly well informed given Steve's background both in journalism and PR.
The afternoon saw the start of the driving section of the day including what all of us had been waiting for: driving around the Top Gear test track.
I was in group 1, so started out driving the road section. James Winstanley and I drove the Kia Soul and Kia Cee'd (the new reasonably priced car on Top Gear).
Both of us were agreed that the Soul was surprisingly agile for such a boxy car whereas the Cee'd was quite difficult to drive at first due to a slightly soft clutch - possibly due to wear.
Both cars had good strong engines and rode incredibly well which was ideal for the back roads around the circuit and the town of Godalming.
In the afternoon, I drove laps in a Mazda MX5 and MPS under the tutelage of Ollie Hancock who was an absolutely top class instructor. He allowed me to slowly develop my confidence in the car and took me through each stage of circuit driving one at a time.
The circuit used was not quite the same as the one used on the Top Gear programme (which crosses over itself) so as to allow a number of cars on track at the same time. Still, we drove through Gambon and Bacharach Bend (the "second-to-last corner") as well as the Hammerhead.
What you don't appreciate when watching on the television is just how bumpy the circuit is - particularly in the middle of some of the slower corners such as the Hammerhead. Also, in my humble, non-racing driver and completely uninformed opinion... I think the "Stig line" through the first corner is the correct one.
The highlight of the afternoon on track for me was the hot laps. Ten of the 14 young journalists were given one timed lap in an MX5 to see who was quickest. I went first with Ollie in the passenger seat.
I was not particularly confident having made a bit of a mess of the earlier driving, and stalling as I started didn't help matters.
After a leisurely warm-up lap I accelerated out of one of the chicanes towards the "second-to-last corner" and made a bit of a hash of it to be honest. Despite being told throughout practice that smooth was the way to go, the adrenaline had clearly got to me and, trying too hard, I got a bit out of shape on the way in.
Then on the exit of the hairpin that followed Gambon, I changed-up from second to third gear far too early (at least I didn't select first as I had in the MPS). At that moment, I guessed I would be lucky not to be slowest.
However, as I pulled in slowly to the small paddock area where the fire truck and refreshments were stationed, Ollie said he would be surprised if anyone was quicker.
And so it proved, my lap of 1m 27.89 just edged Richard Webber's time of 1m 28.35.
Any delusions about my own ability had already been quenched however because all 14 young motoring journalists had been given hot laps in an MX5 race car driven by a professional racer.
A fantastic day and well worth attending for anyone who loves cars, let alone young motoring journalists.
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