Despite the inclement weather lashing Cape Town, Live To Race 2014 got off without any major issues. As mentioned last week, Live to Race is anon-profit organisation which draws upon on a database of passionate petrolheads who are willing to take mentally handicapped, terminally ill and underprivileged children around around a track.

This year, Cars.co.za was invited by Car Magazine to participate as a driver. The brief was simple: bring a car, a helmet and report to Killarney Raceway for some gentle laps with some of the little ones in the passenger seats. After sending out a mail to the fleet managers and explaining the nature of this event, I was offered the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG. Not only is it entertaininglyquick, it also has all-wheel drive (very handy in the drizzly conditions) and is practical enough for a driver and three passengers. Perfect for Live to Race, in other words.

The Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG was joined by the latest generation MINI Cooper S, a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG and SLK 55 AMG, a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, some Porsches, and some classic American muscle in the form of a Shelby Cobra, a Ford GT40 and the iconic Ford Mustang Mach 1.

Live to Race 2014

There were 65children from Reach for a Dream, Hokisa and The Anna Foundation at this Live to Race event and when they weren’t being taken around the track, they enjoyed free pizza and drinks courtesy of Romans Pizza.Naturally with such precious cargo sitting in the passenger seats, the emphasis was on safety at all costs and very few of the cars present went flat out on the race track.

In fact, many of the little ones were more interested in playing with the infotainment systems of the cars. Live to Race shared the track with title sponsor Subaru Cape Town, who were busy launching the all-new WRX sedan.As for the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG, the childrenloved the noise it made as it changed gears, but I think they loved the music from the radio even more.

*Read the review of the awesome Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG here*