McLaren gives Kiev last shot of Adrenaline.

On Saturday 16 June, the West McLaren Mercedes Adrenaline Programme staged its last event, bringing to a close the largest public participation scheme yet run by a Formula One team.

Run over the past three years, the Adrenaline Programme was designed to bring Formula One to a wider audience, with events held mainly in countries which do not host a grand prix.

Based around the West McLaren Mercedes two-seater Formula One car, it brought the sights and sounds of grand prix racing right to the heart of cities all over the world. The nineteenth and final event was staged in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and like the other eighteen, it drew a huge crowd; in this case around one hundred thousand locals turned up to witness the action.

Behind the wheel of the two-seater to give a handful of celebrity guests the ride of a lifetime was Chris Goodwin, who has done more miles in this car than anyone else over the past three years. The main pedestrian street in the city was closed off to create a one and a half kilometre 'circuit'. Passengers included top Ukrainian tennis star, Andrei Medvedev, the world's most famous pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, the younger of the two boxing brothers, Vladimir Klitchko, Austrian singer Antonia and the Mayor of Kiev, Mr Omelchenko.

Also on hand was West McLaren Mercedes' double world champion Mika Hakkinen, whose press conference in City Hall drew a crowd of 200 media.

"More people turned up for this than when I was elected Mayor five years ago," said Omelchenko.

Mika was asked if he had ever driven the two-seater and the press were not sure whether or not to believe him when the Finn explained that he had taken his wife Erja for a ride in it, on snow in the Finnish forests.

"Three weeks later we found out Erja was pregnant!" he recalled.

The city of Kiev used the Adrenaline Programme as the centre of a whole weekend of sporting and cultural activities with pop and classical music concerts put on to entertain the crowds and there was a farewell party to mark the end of what has been a very successful programme which has brought F1 to a whole new audience.