April: while driving from capital Dushanbe to Khudzand in Tajikistan a delegation of Foreign Office staff end up in a ditch after being forced to take evasive action. The next thing they do? Make a cup of tea of course. Pic via @LeighTurnerFCO

May: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria were great but we’ve been to all those places before. The only new country on our trip in May was Romania. This is the moment of maximum anticipation, crossing the Danube from Ruse to Giurgiu.

June: this young Audi R8 driver paid a €750 fine to grinning French police officers on his way down to Le Mans. Another man had his (company) R8 confiscated. Jeremy Clarkson had his licence taken away in October. Hardly anybody escaped the great speeding crackdown in France in 2013.

June: the Rolls-Royce Centenary Rally had the Loibl Pass between Slovenia and Austria opened specially. Many drivers tackled the 28.5% dirt road in cars over 100 years old.

August: Vladimir Putin drives himself to the opening ceremony of a section of the St Petersburg Western High-Speed Diameter road. We still don’t know what car he’s driving (Answer: Mercedes-Benz S-Class, thanks to @Corver911). Photo via Kremlin.ru

August: the race was boring but this row of brand new Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks at the Belgian Grand Prix was pretty cool.

September: traffic officers in north east city Kharkiv take delivery of the first of 1,200 Toyota Prius hybrids ordered by the Ukraine police. The cars are due to be used even by the fearsome Berkut militia/riot squad though we’re not sure what it will do for their reputation.

October: the Range Rover Hybrid adventure from the UK to India tackled roads varying from 430 feet below sea level to nearly 20,000 feet above on the drive through Kazakhstan.

October: ‘Ferry leaving Newhaven harbour in storm, East Sussex, England’ by David Lyon won a top prize in this year’s Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. Picture used by kind permission.

November: an incredible drive across south east Europe takes a breather in Turkey. Where there’s trucks there’s food (and wifi). @TheBlondeGyspy, @Yomadic and @PhillJane drove from the Balkans across Turkey to Georgia and Armenia in Nancy, a Renault Clio that cost €350. They’re still going. If you fancy it yourself they are running a tour next year, see www.yomadic.com