BBC show showcases pretty cars we can’t even buy in the UK
Last week, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and little tiny Richard Hammond were spotted in San Francisco respectively testing out a 2009 Corvette ZR1, a Dodge Challenger SRT8, and a 2009 Cadillac CTS-V .
Over the weekend, rumours that they are filming another hour-long Top Gear in USA show were fleshed out as the boys were spotted at the Bonneville Salt Flats (where there are no corners to test the ropey handling of those lumbering American motors), where they sported some rather fetching baseball caps.
See more pictures of Lord Clarkson et al after the jump…
Soccer fans suffer for Auntie’s successful motorsport bid
Football fans - who love nothing better than to moan endlessly about their chosen sport - are currently annoyed with subscription channel Setanta for stealing away all the England away games, and leaving terrestrial telebox viewers without so much as a brief highlights package.
In defence of their perfectly-reasonable decision to host England away matches, Setanta’s director of sport Trevor East has blamed the BBC for spaffing their budget on securing the rights to next year’s Formula One season, paying some £50m more than ITV laid down for their current five year deal.
So, did the Beeb make the right choice in nabbing the F1, or should they have let ITV keep the coverage and allowed footy fans to get their fix of frustration and anger through watching the national side?
Excellent news for Top Gear fans. The programme has now got its very own channel on YouTube. And as this has been setup by the BBC and all above board, it should mean that the videos actually stay up there rather than disappearing when the internet police spot them (as is currently the case). While this is all very good for you, it does not make life much easier for Gridcrasher because embedding is disabled on all the videos, which means we can’t put them on the site for you. Bugger!
This is the classic moment when Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond fell under the spell of hypnotist Paul McKenna. The Hamster completely forgot how to drive, including hilariously using the gear stick as a joystick. He also acquires a pedal power Porsche 911 which he believes is the greatest car ever!
News reaches us that Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has bought a castle in Herfordshire. The castle, which cost almost £2m, boasts six bedrooms, an indoor swimmimg pool and 20 acres of land.
As we told you a couple of weeks ago, both Hammond and colleague James May received a substantial wage increase from the Beeb, an extra £10,000 per episode. Didn’t take him long to spend his new cash, did it?
Top Gear is safe! So relax: fix yourself a dirty great mojito or do whatever else you do to relax.
James May and Richard Hammond weren’t happy with the fact that Jeremy Clarkson earned a lot more than they did, but we can reveal that both May and Hammond have negotiated healthy new contracts with the Beeb. The pair will now earn an extra £10,000 per show, which puts them more in line with Jeremy Clarkson.
Celebrate this good news by watching Hammond and May play car football
We don’t know why Jay “The twat in the hat” Kay is still considered a celeb - he hasn’t made a good record since… er, we’ll get back to you on that - but he’s just about famous enough to get a second chance at being a “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” on the latest series of Top Gear.
The main reason he was asked back was as a ringer - Simon “Codpiece” Cowell had been No.1 for ages, and the production team wanted a petrolheaded star who could bring about a change at the top of the leaderboard. In Kay, they got their man.
This video claims that Ben Collins is The Stig. Englishman Collins has driven in NASCAR and F3, and worked as a consultant on Top Gear.
We have to admit, The Stig’s voice does sound remarkably similar to that of Collins. And Scottish racing driver Susie Stoddart said in an interview that she knew for a fact that Collins was The Stig.
So there you have it. Case closed. The Stig IS Ben Collins. Er, maybe.
If you are not a real celebrity, but want to behave like one in the comfort of your own worldwide web, then here’s a way. This simple game, a new addition to Top Gear’s website, recreates the infamous “Star in a reasonably priced car” feature. Steer your car through the tricky Hammerhead, then accelerate out of Gambon to see how you match up with the likes of Simon Cowell (the fastest star yet) and actor Brian Cox (the slowest).
We’re not very good, so far anyway. Our best time is a frankly shit 2:05:11, which we have no doubt that you can beat with some ease.
