Category: Top Gear

A new Top Gear Live world tour is about to dock in Australia and Jeremy Bass, for one, is not looking forward to its arrival and has accused the format of jumping the shark.

In a preview of the tour for the Sydney Morning Herald Bass starts, “This year, one of television’s best-loved institutions will acknowledge itself as one of television’s best loved institutions and proceed to crush itself under the weight of its own self-regard.”

Acknowledging the success of BBC TV’s television jewel Bass claims the gold mining on the back of such strong ratings is a sign Top Gear is falling from it’s zenith, “There, perhaps, lies the threshold at which great stuff like Top Gear first tips its nose downward: the moment they replace audiences with ”fans”. Once that happens, it’s fait accompli things will climax, and go limp. All that’s left is shark-jumping.”

Pushing the point further, Jeremy Bass said, “A motoring program that turns into an all-singing, all-dancing live arena show is clearly approaching the peak of its torque curve. Where to from there?”

Certainly the 2009 world tour didn’t reach the expected highs, as the AUSmotive review reported, so perhaps Bass does have a point. After attending last year’s show, I know I’m in no rush to go out and buy tickets. How about you, are you planning on going to Top Gear Live when it comes to Sydney in February?

[Source: Sydney Morning Herald | Thanks to Mick for the tip]

A quick reminder to AUSmotive readers with access to Foxtel that BBC Knowledge will be celebrating Boxing Day with almost 12 hours of Top Gear. This will include all eight episodes from Season 12, which ends with the Vietnam special. If this sounds like fun for all the family, then check the online schedule now, the special starts at 11:30am on Saturday.

Don’t look now, but Guy Ritchie is heading straight at you, seemingly out of control. Well, according to the Mirror, that was the common theme among the Top Gear camera crew this week as the movie man went through an impressive four cars during his appearance on the leading motoring program.

A fan who attended the taping of the show explains that Ritchie, featuring in the Star In A Reasonably Priced Car segment, was unable to handle the wet conditions and showed a hunger for trashing Chevrolet Lacettis.

“Guy chose a really tough day to try to set a fast lap,” said the fan, “He told the show’s presenters it was a wet track and he had ended up breaking four cars over the course of the day, including destroying one of the gearboxes.”

Trivia buffs of the show will be interested to know that there were four cars on hand. To the best of my knowledge it has only ever been mentioned that one back up car exists.

UK viewers will be able to see Ritchie’s shenanagins in the fourth episode of the current series, which airs on UK screen in just a few hours.

[Source: Mirror.co.uk]

Now that Episode 1 of Top Gear‘s fourteenth season is locked away in the vault, Andy Wilman has given a preview of what is in store for the rest of the series.

Wilman has given brief outlines of the six remaining episodes and it looks like there might be a week off, with the final ep for the season to air in January next year.

Obviously the Mercedes-Benz SLS in the image above is a bit of a giveaway, but if you’d prefer to keep the rest a secret, then don’t follow the jump.

As you will most likely be aware Series 14 of Top Gear premieres on UK screens tonight. Kicking the season off is an appearance by Australia’s own Eric Bana. According to Top Gear’s Transmission blog Eric was a popular guest, “You can always tell the really sound people amongst TG guests by how much they hang around after their interview.

“Suffice to say that the Top Gear team thinks Bana is a bloody good bloke because he was there until the end, watching the rest of the show and then enjoying some of the aftershow Terrible Buffet in the production office.

“In fact, he was still there talking diffs, carbs and the higher language of muscle cars with Hammond when most people were making their excuses and leaving.”

Without giving too much away the first episode will also include the film shot on the Transfagarasan road in Romania. Set to be a classic clip, for sure, the lads take on the road’s seemingly never ending corners in a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder, an Aston Martin DBS Volante and a Ferrari California. With plenty of tunnels on this route, there’s certain to be some supreme aural delights, as well.

Season 14 of Top Gear is the first to be broadcast in high definition. That means we can expect the show’s brilliant production standards to be showcased at an even higher level.

If my memory serves, this series will be an seven episode run with the final episode likely to air on 27 December. For more of a teaser of what is to come this series, check out this previous AUSmotive post.

[Pic: Eric Bana Online]

In a little over one week from now Season 14 of Top Gear will be going to air. Like last series, some jammy kids are telling us all about it.

You know the drill, you can see the teaser after the break.

[via FinalGear]

Boutique British sportscar manufacturer Ultima Sports Ltd have smashed the track record at the Dunsfold Park track used by Top Gear.

Continually bemused that the show won’t allow their Ultima GTR720 to be tested by The Stig because of the “must be able to drive over a speed bump rule” the chaps from Ultima have taken matters into their own hands.

At the first available opportunity they hired the Top Gear track and drove the GTR720 from their factory to prove their “road legal” point. On arrival they knocked off an impressive 0.8 seconds from the record spectacularly set by Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari FXX at the start of Series 13. The best time recorded by the FXX was 1:10.7. The Ultima GTR720 easily bettered Schumacher’s effort setting a time of 1:09.9.

Well done them! Now, I wonder if this will relieve them of the seemingly massive chip on their shoulders, haha.

Two clips of the lap can be seen after the jump, the first fetauring absurdly biased commentary and the second, filmed in car, gives a great view of the full Top Gear track. If you want more info on this story, check out the Ultima website.