THE Mercedes SLR McLaren, Porsche 911 Turbo and Corvette Z06 will be just three of the incredible supercars lining up at London City Airport next week, when Autocar will write a brand new performance benchmark into the record books - the London Land Speed Record. In an environment where every new supercar promises more outlandish performance than the last, the London Land Speed Record will separate the very fastest cars on sale from the pretenders.

On Saturday July 15, Autocar will assemble the fastest contenders on the road, from the Ford GT to the Bentley Continental Flying Spur. Each will be given a rolling start, and the length of City Airport's one-mile runway in which to set the fastest top speed of the day.

City Airport's one-mile landing strip will represent a unique challenge for the world's fastest cars, and for Autocar's editor-at-large Steve Sutcliffe, who will be driving them.

It is surrounded on three sides by the Thames: "My thoughts for the day are very simple," says Steve: "Do not end up in the water, do not end up in the water, do not end up in the water!"

"Seriously, it's fantastic that London City Airport has allowed us to do this and hopefully squeeze our way into the Guinness Book of Records."

The London Speed Record marks the return of the British International Motor Show, 20-30 July at ExCel.