What's the news?

The Japanese car manufacturer Mazda is set to officially launch its new Mazda3 model at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show, but just before this it plans to put the all-new car through one last 9,000-mile test drive.

A team of journalists from around the globe has been chosen to help put the new Mazda3 through its paces by driving a small fleet of cars from the manufacturer's assembly plant in Hiroshima, Japan, across Russia (the world's largest country) before crossing Belarus and Poland before eventually arriving at Frankfurt in Germany.

The trip will span nine time zones and will finish in Frankfurt on September 7th, just before the opening of the IAA Motor Show. Mazda has created a dedicated website for the near month-long trip, which will include a diary and images from each day as well as video footage of the cars as they make the journey. The website address is http://www.mazdaroute3.eu.

Anything else?

You will be able to keep track of yours truly as I will be taking part in the trip, driving on the second leg, which will start from Vladivostok on the east coast of Russia.