Panis in Toytown!

Monaco has long been known as a playground for the rich. Floating gin palaces, auto exotica, multi million dollar homes and designer labels abound.

The place is flash and seriously flush. But although the Principality made an incredible backdrop for the latest Lucky Strike BAR Honda activity, the accent was on more affordable thrills.

Following the 2002 Belgian GP at Spa Francorchamps and some serious 36th birthday celebrations, Lucky Strike BAR Honda's Olivier Panis hit town to test out some of the latest 'Boy's Toys' to emerge onto an increasingly popular market.

First on the agenda was an Air Board - a kind of one-man hovercraft inspired by the 'Back to the Future' films. Controlled by the transference of body weight and capable of speeds up to 30 km/h, the machine is powered by a 9hp engine that forces air into the surrounding rubber cushion creating the hover.

''The Air Board was quite difficult to turn - sometimes you really had to fight with the machine to get it to go in the direction you wanted. But I think that was just because I wasn't used to it,'' commented Panis. ''It was still good fun though. It was a challenge to ride and that made it an enjoyable experience.''

Next up was the Power Board. Developed in Long Beach, California - the home of skateboarding - the Power Board is a very trick motorised skateboard, although experts believe the ride experience actually has more in common with snowboarding.

''Like a lot of people my age, I grew up riding a skateboard. It was a big craze at the end of the 70s everywhere in Europe, I think,'' enthused Panis. ''So this brought back some good memories and I really enjoyed it. Because it has a motor it was much heavier and longer than the boards I remember, but it was also very easy to ride - I think anyone who has some experience on skateboards or snowboards would agree. But I liked this very much. I'd like one at home!''

After a quick refuel at the swanky Zebra Square restaurant and a change of kit, it was down to Fontvieille port for some action on the high seas. Panis is a big boat fan and was clearly up for some serious messing about on the water. His toys were a sleek 420hp balls out XS Sport powerboat from the Sunseeker stable and an ultra lightweight, ultra quick inflatable racing boat called a Zap Cat.

''The Zap Cat was really impressive - I enjoyed this most of all,'' exclaimed Olivier. ''I know boats really well but this took my breath away. It was so fast and agile. The power-to-weight ratio is incredible - not much less than an F1 car and it was a lot of fun. I don't know if I'd like to race these but to experience the acceleration and speed was great. 50 knots in a boat this size feels like 300km/h in a car.''

''The Sunseeker was pretty easy as I know this type of boat very well,'' he continued. ''It is still a lot of fun - perhaps not exciting in the same way as the Zap Cat, but still really enjoyable to go through the water in.''

''This is the first time I've tried three of these toys before and they were great fun. Quite different to the things we tried in Estepona last year. It was my 36th birthday on Monday and if I had a choice of one of today's toys for a present I think it would have to be the Zap Cat - it was really incredible. Everyone should try it once...!''

Olivier Panis may be one of F1's elder statesmen these days, but the sight of him at play with these toys made it hard to believe he was out of his teens. The Lucky Strike BAR Honda driver confirmed how much fun he'd been having by concluding, ''I wouldn't say that you get the same thrill level out of any of these machines as you do from driving a Formula One car, but that doesn't mean they are not fun. Far from it. They all get the adrenalin going in their own way and I had a good time trying them out.''