Episode 5 Top Gear

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Hello!

And welcome to Top Gear.

Tonight, we've got Chris Harris and Sabine Schmitz

in a motorsports fight to the death.

And we've got Eddie Jordan, in a surprisingly-tight race suit.

Something for everyone.

But first, I want to talk about American stereotypes,

because some people will tell you that America doesn't do supercars.

And I have to say that is completely and totally...

true, actually.

Over the years, America's made a lot of fast cars -

Corvettes, Mustangs, Vipers -

but we've always tended to leave the mid-engined supercar thing

to the Europeans.

Well, watch out, Europe,

because America's coming to git ya!

This is the new Ford GT.

Yes, it's American.

Yes, it's a car.

And, yes, it is super.

And for starters, it looks great!

In fact,

I think it's the best-looking American car this century.

Hell, it might just be the best-looking car this century.

Not only does it look like a proper supercar,

the GT is made out of proper supercar parts.

This isn't some lump of iron forged by a blacksmith.

No, no. This is the real deal.

It's got sophisticated pushrod hydraulic suspension,

a whipcrack double-clutch gearbox.

Practically the whole thing is made out of carbon fibre and aluminum.

That's right, ALUMINUM.

It's an American car and we're in America,

so it's aluminum.

And all those cutting-edge components are needed

to manage 647 horsepower.

That is Major League.

Major League enough to do 0-60 in three seconds flat.

That's as quick as the Ferrari 488.

That's as quick as the McLaren 675 LT.

That's as quick as...

Well, that's quick.

So it's got supercar acceleration,

but those cars both top out at 205mph,

which is REALLY fast.

The Ford GT, however...

..216mph.

It's the fastest Ford ever.

REVVING

Now, that kind of firepower demands closer inspection.

And that means no more Pacific Coast Highway.

RADIO:

What's that? I can't hear you. I'm going through a tunnel!

HE CHUCKLES

No, the Ford GT needs a racetrack.

Specifically, my favourite racetrack...

Laguna Seca.

All right.

Let's see what it can do. So we put it in track mode.

Hoh!

That's nice. Drops down with authority.

All right. Ready? Here we go.

Oh, the acceleration is...enormous! Whoo!

Ford have done some clever stuff with software and fuel injection,

which they say eliminates turbo lag.

They keep the turbo spooled up, even when my foot is off the throttle.

So there's always power.

ALWAYS!

And there's plenty of grip, too.

It's got an active wing out the back

that keeps the back stuck to the track.

And it's got active flaps under the nose

to keep the nose stuck to the track.

You stick all that together and this thing is...

..sticky.

OK, here we come into the Corkscrew at...

-Ooh,

-BLEEP!

-That's quick.

If you were to do that through the Corkscrew at that speed

in any other Ford - ever! -

you would be out there in the weeds.

And that's the thing about this new GT.

It's not like any other Ford, ever.

See, here's what happens when a big company like Ford

tries to do a supercar.

The designers come up with a gorgeous, sleek concept,

the engineers try to figure out

a way to make it go really, really fast

and, then, the departments get involved.

There's the guy from the Cup-Holders Department,

who wants to make sure there's room for his 30-ounce Big Slurp.

Then there's the guy

from the Sports And Leisure Luggage Department,

who wants to make sure there's room for his golf sticks.

And then there's the guy from the Making Sure Fat Guys Fit Department,

who wants to make sure there's room for his...

..fat guy.

Now, after all their demands have been met,

you don't have a supercar any more.

No, no, no. What you have...

is an SUV.

But the GT feels like it's been crafted by specialists,

who knew exactly what they wanted...

and got it.

Now, this is hydraulic steering. No fancy electric. It's old school.

It's got a great feel. Turns in really sharp.

TYRES SQUEAL

Ferrari give you a lot of software to help you do neater skids,

but there's none of that here.

In this one, you're on your own.

TYRES SCREECH

All on your own!

Oh, my God, the balance is epic!

LAUGHING: Wow!

America can't do supercars?!

Not from where I'm sitting.

So, come on, what's not to like?

Well, there is that motor.

Yeah, it's big on power,

but, by supercar standards, it's kind of short on cylinders.

This is a V6 -

a 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6, to be exact.

And that could be a problem.

Because this car is inspired by the GT40,

the greatest American race car of all time,

-powered by one of the most iconic

-V8s

-ever.

Created in the 1960s, its aim was to end Ferrari's domination

at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Up against Ferrari's highly-strung V12s,

Ford used the reliable brawn of a seven-litre V8.

It worked.

The GT40 didn't just become the first American car

to win at Le Mans -

it went one, two, three and locked out the podium.

Ferrari were humiliated.

They'd never win Le Mans again.

Now, listen to the internet and the internet will tell you

that Ford ditching the V8 in the new GT isn't just misguided,

it's unpatriotic.

But the original GT40 didn't have a V8 because it was American -

it had a V8 because it was the right tool for the job.

And so is this new V6.

Yeah, sure, Ford could have stuck a V8 in here,

but that would have made the car heavier, bigger,

less aerodynamic, less agile.

It's just got such a balanced feel. So well sorted. It's just...

RADIO:

I still have half a tank of fuel!

Bunch of...

As I was saying, the new GT doesn't honour its history by being retro -

it honours its history by being quick.

Last year, exactly half a century after the original GT40

spanked Ferrari at Le Mans, this new GT won its class

in a 24-hour race and beat Ferrari again.

What are you going to do?

This car is SO special.

Maybe it's the history, maybe it's the pedigree.

You know what? I'm just going to shut up now.

I'm just...

Yeah.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Pretty special.

-OK.

-Pretty special, right?

This car looks absolutely stunning in that film,

but I can't believe I am saying this,

it looks even better in the studio, in the flesh.

-The way you see those scalloped sides.

-Yeah, yeah.

When we did the film, I had seen photos, but when I saw it in person

the first time, I just walked around and around and around it.

It is so good looking.

It's a great piece of styling and you were the first person,

-outside the factory, to drive it.

-Er, right, yeah.

Well, apart from the guy who backed it off the truck

on the Pacific Coast Highway. He was technically the first,

but then it was... then it was little ol' me.

I'm profoundly jealous. I love driving cars first, Matthew.

-You've taken over my role. I'm gutted.

-Whoa, whoa, hold on.

You get to drive everything. You drove the Ferrari FXX-K,

you drove the Bugatti Chiron, you drove the Volvo Estate

in Kazakhstan. Come on, now. You need to learn to share.

You can't have them all.

In this instance, I can say that's fine.

But one thing. You didn't mention the price.

Ah. No, I didn't, because it is very expensive!

It's about 400,000. About £300,000. That's a lot of money.

That's more than a 675LT, more than a Ferrari 488.

Enough to support

this rather ordinary badge here?

Yeah. I mean, it's a better supercar.

So because it is more expensive, it's better?

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Look, for too long now, America has been making cars

that are good value for the money.

They give you a lot of bang for your buck.

But that's where we've been going wrong.

Supercars aren't about bang for your buck.

You make it stupid expensive

and people just can't get enough of it.

There's some logic in that.

Can I ask one thing? When you did the lowering...

When you put it in track mode and it... WHOOMPH!

Please can I, um...? Come on.

All right. Go on, have a go. Here you go.

-Watch this. This is great.

-You would, wouldn't you!

-ALL:

-Yes!

You would. Watch this.

This is the coolest thing.

ENGINE EMITS LOW ROAR

Oh!

CHRIS CACKLES

That is just awesome!

And wait for it.

Watch it go back up.

Nice. That's fantastic.

How do you get out?

LAUGHTER

Right. Well, while he figures that out - Rory!

And, really, it doesn't actually matter how much the Ford GT costs,

because they're only planning to make 1,000 of them

and they're sold out ten times over.

-Unlucky.

-That's right, unlucky.

All right. Now, it's time to welcome this week's guest.

That's right. He's won six Olympic gold medals.

He's one of the fastest men ever on two wheels

and his legs make more torque than a Ferrari F12.

Please welcome Sir Chris Hoy.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

How you doing, mate? Hi, Matt, How's it going?

-Welcome.

-Thank you. Hi, Rory. Thank you.

Wow!

This is exciting, isn't it?

-That is a nice... That is a nice welcome, yeah.

-Fantastic.

-So...

-Great to be here.

..over 500 pound-feet of torque in those legs?

-700 newton metres, whatever that is in the old...

-That's a lot.

It's quite a lot. Less now. I'm retired now.

-Less?

-It's like a vintage car, loses power over the years.

-Got you.

So maybe human figures by this point, you think?

Yeah, it's been a while since I've tested them, but who knows?

And you love your cars. What did you drive down here in today?

I drove down in an RS6 Estate. Nice family car. Quite sensible.

I hear it's been breathed on just a little?

A little bit. It's got a loud exhaust

and maybe a few little extra horses in there.

-But it's...

-It has 730 horsepower, dude.

Yeah, well, you need them, don't you? You need them.

LAUGHTER

Now, last year, you did something I've always wanted to do -

you raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Oh, it was unbelievable. Just incredible. An amazing experience.

It exceeded everything, on every level,

that I was looking forward to, getting into it.

Yeah, a huge amount of fun.

Now, a couple of years ago, you drove a Nissan GTR

at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, didn't you?

How did that go? You know what? We have a clip.

-I knew you would bring this up!

-Let's look at this tape here.

Nice. There we go.

SCREECHING

Oh!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thanks for reminding me about that one(!)

I love the bow at the end!

Well, you know, I sat in the car afterwards and I just thought,

"I wonder, if I wait here long enough,

"they might all just go home."

Oh, horrendous.

There's a corner called Molecomb, it's a left-hander,

and they all told me, before I got there,

"If you can see the corner, or if you wait to brake

"before you see the corner, it's too late."

I remember going over the crest of the hill,

seeing the corner, still flat, and I thought, "Uh-oh."

-You were committed, certainly.

-It was full commitment.

At least I was... I wasn't holding back.

The worst thing was... Not the worst thing,

but one of the bad things was it was the CEO,

Andy Palmer's personal car, one of only two NISMO GT-Rs in the country,

brand-new, he hadn't even driven it yet.

And...

-Nor would he ever!

-Well, exactly.

I saw him after I got out of the car,

and he was very good about it, he said,

"We can replace cars, we can't replace people."

He was quite happy, because it showed

how great the airbags and the safety was.

I went through four rows of hay bales and came out unscathed.

So you've raced at Le Mans. What's next?

I'm aiming to be the first person to cycle across Antarctica.

And also cycle to the South Pole on the way to doing that.

It's something I never thought I'd do,

it's completely out there, quite a strange challenge,

but it's a huge challenge,

and to be the first person to do that would be pretty cool.

Hmm.

That killed the conversation, didn't it?

LAUGHTER No, no, I'm just...

No, I think that's...

Why would you do that?

Why would I do it? Well...

You know, it's not one of these places you go to on holiday.

No, you don't.

You're not going to end up at the South Pole by accident.

I just, I like to do things that challenge me, that push me.

And to go somewhere that I never thought

I would ever get the chance to do, or to go to,

and to challenge myself in a way I've never been challenged before.

But, yeah, it's just... Why not? I suppose is the answer.

Is that something you're going to do by yourself?

No, we're trying to find somebody

-that's stupid enough to do it with me.

-Good luck!

We're chatting to a few people just now.

It's a big undertaking, it will be a lot of training,

a lot of preparation.

We're going to Iceland soon to test a new bike,

we will actually design and build a new bike for this project.

Going to have to be able to deal with

minus whatever the temperatures will be out there.

-Yeah.

-Apparently it's 25 degrees cooler at the South Pole

-than it is in Iceland, which is pretty cold already.

-Whoa.

Maybe put a cab around it and a motor, call it a truck!

LAUGHTER

I'd go with you, but I've got a thing I've got to do, I couldn't...

What do you say we take a look at your training lap with Chris Harris?

How did that go out there?

It was... I'm going to get my excuses in early, I think.

It was greasy, wet.

Chris was very good, though,

he wasn't shouting at me, he wasn't grumpy.

You're a lot bigger than him. LAUGHTER

I assume what you're aiming for is to knock Max Whitlock

off the top of the leaderboard, right? Gold versus gold?

For the pride of my sport versus gymnastics,

it'd be great to be up there.

Yeah, yeah. You're a sport that has wheels.

Yeah. I've got some advantage. He'll be...

Well, he's smaller, he's lighter,

he takes good instruction from his coaches,

-he can learn routines, so he should be good.

-OK.

-It was a good lap he set.

-Very modest. Is that how you really feel?

Let's take a look.

-Forget everything else, there are two words that matter today.

-OK.

"Max" and "Whitlock".

You have to beat him.

Yeah, but he did it in the dry.

Oh, God, you're like a real racing driver - all the excuses.

Let's go! First gear.

-Over to the right-hand side.

-Get in, you bugger!

There's several others in there.

He's showboating now! Over to the right.

Braking hard at the hundred.

-Oh, hundred?

-Third gear.

-What the hell is that?

-Third gear.

A bit of pommel-horse work there.

ONE PERSON APPLAUDING

That is just...

TEARFULLY: That is just beautiful.

Oh, that...

Oh!

-Third gear.

-Get it in third.

-There we go. That's fifth gear.

-Max didn't do that.

-Come on! Come on!

-Fourth gear.

Trail it all the way in and get the thing tippy-toed.

-Carry it more...

-Yeah, yeah.

Good car control, that man!

Over the line! We're in. Star pupil.

-That was a bit better, that one.

-Star pupil!

So you've taught me everything you know? All the local knowledge?

-Of course I have, I've told you all my tricks.

-Brilliant.

HE MOUTHS

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Well done, man.

That looked really good, though.

In those conditions, with no distractions whatsoever...

I just about locked up on the brakes and went straight into him.

-He was lucky I didn't hit him.

-Yeah!

-Could have been messy.

Yeah, could have been. Chris, what do you think?

Very, very high hopes.

I think he's the star pupil, as I said in the car.

He's got all the car control.

If the conditions are there, I'm expecting great things. No pressure.

Thanks, mate.

We'll get to your timed lap a little bit later in the show.

OK, now, moving on. For the last few months,

there's been an argument brewing in the office -

who is Top Gear's quickest driver?

Well, obviously, that's The Stig, but who's second quickest?

According to racing driver Sabine Schmitz, it's...

Sabine Schmitz,

and according to racing driver Chris Harris, it's Chris Harris.

So we decided to settle the argument, once and for all.

Sabine versus Chris.

All we needed was a place to race.

The Mojave Desert.

Once a year, this Californian wilderness is transformed

into a sprawling city of die-hard race fans.

Whoo! This is what I call a proper playground!

Look at the size of it!

To decide which of us is quickest, apart from The Stig,

we'd been sent to The King Of The Hammers -

one of the most-extreme off-road events on the planet.

Competing here requires specialist skill.

High-speed, low-grip racing across desert flats

meets complex technical rock crawls

over near-vertical boulder-strewn faces...

..where one mistake can mean disaster.

Well, all I can say is...

what a perfect place for you to lose!

What?! I'm not going to lose.

Come on.

Welcome to Hammer Town.

35,000 fans all gathered to watch the motorsport equivalent

of cage fighting.

And as if that wasn't intimidating enough,

the next morning we'd been entered into something called

the Legends Class.

And we'd be driving these.

That is an Ultra 4 buggy.

Holy moly.

Over 100,000 of custom-made 500 horsepower

V8 off-roader with four-wheel drive,

long travel shocks and 40-inch tyres.

One slight issue here, Sabine.

-This is your vehicle.

-Yeah.

There are big dents in the roll cage, and if I just, um...

Yeah, this vehicle's been on its roof several times, Sabine.

But that's standard, isn't it?

-I'm not afraid.

-For you maybe, not for me.

I've never rolled a racing car in my life.

I've rolled a couple.

Are you not worried by this?

I can't wait, actually.

Don't cry, Harris, please.

This is so cool!

Huh?

Not convinced, I went to find some reassurance

from the event organiser.

-So, Dave, you are literally King of the Hammers.

-Evidently, yeah.

-This is your event.

-This is my event, yeah.

The million-dollar question for me is the inversion thing.

-Yeah, I heard you haven't rolled before.

-No.

Today's your day. THEY LAUGH

This is going into something knowing that you're going to get hurt.

I'm not sure about this at all. This is absolutely insane.

Neither one of these guys here finished this race last year

because they both broke their backs during the race

and had to be flown out.

Just drive as slow as you can.

Then you're safe.

Are you listening to what he's saying?

He said they broke their backs!

-Given what you know about our driving background...

-Yes.

..give an honest assessment of our chances in these things.

She's going to kill it, you're not going to make it.

Anybody that can drive a van around the Nurburgring

is willing to try different things.

Plus I heard she's already been upside-down,

and you're worried about it.

So you'll drive scared and be upside-down anyway,

she's going to kill it.

Hmm.

With Dave having been no help whatsoever,

we were given the afternoon and a veteran driver each

to familiarise ourselves with the cars and the terrain.

I had been paired with former X Games gold medallist

and legendary motivational speaker Chris Ridgeway.

You're pretty much going to be OK.

While Dave had kindly offered Sabine the help of his son, Bailey.

Ready for this crazy adventure?

SABINE LAUGHS

I'm in a little bit better shape than Chris.

So first up were the desert flats.

Sounds straightforward.

Bloody hell! Whoa!

That's insane!

And I'm supposed to do this myself, am I?

'In my defence, I've never been a good passenger.

'But, annoyingly, Sabine was having a blast.'

Whooooo!

SHE LAUGHS AND SHRIEKS

Whooo!

-Having a good time?

-Yes!

SHE LAUGHS

Soon, though, it was our turn to take the wheel.

Ah, now we're talking!

This isn't like a street car that you're used to driving.

-You've got to hammer the thing.

-Yeah.

You're hard on the brakes, hard on the throttle.

Full throttle, give it some gas.

-OK, honey!

-Give it a little gas.

ENGINE ROARS There you go!

Whoohoo!

The suspension is incredible.

But there is this lurking feeling it could roll any time.

That's correct.

Just as I was starting to get the hang of it, though,

I asked a stupid question.

Now, how many injuries have you had?

I've had a few.

I start with the easy stuff, like the broken arms and legs.

But, er...

A rebuilt wrist, and knees and ankles.

There was that one time I got my leg cut off.

-What?!

-Yeah.

Yeah, that was a bad day at the office.

Oh, my Godfather.

And with that, we made our way back to Hammer Town.

Where my confidence took another blow.

I'm kind of up for anything to do with going fast in cars,

but I'm not so sure about this.

I've just been ragdolled around by some lunatic,

and now I'm told that this happened yesterday to some poor soul -

electrical fire.

He used the phrase, "We barely got out."

I thought that was plastic.

That's aluminium, melted.

Um...

I think I've bitten off more than I can chew here.

'It was clear we needed more practice.

'But before we could head back out,

'we were told we'd each be getting some help

'from a team manager.'

-I can't have Eddie.

-I don't want Eddie!

-I don't want Eddie.

-I don't...

-I

-don't want Eddie.

-Hello!

-Hi!

-Welcome to the desert.

-Hi, Eddie!

What a lovely surprise. Gentlemen.

-Edward.

-Sabine, how are you?

-Hello!

-Nice to see you.

-OK, so...

-So I must be with...

-We've had a coin toss. You...

-Yeah?

..are with Eddie.

-Whoohoo!

-And I am with Sabine.

Come on, give me a hug.

Give me a hug. Are we going to win?

Yes, we're going to win.

-He's nervous, isn't he?

-Guys. Here we go.

-Along here, this is our line.

-That's it.

-That's fine, that's fine.

This is the line in the sand right there.

-OK. Toes on the line.

-They are the enemy.

-OK, I've got you, Edward. I've got you.

-You sure?

-Yeah.

-So it's on?

-It's on, it's on.

-It's on.

So, heading back out to our desert training area,

it was time to tackle rock crawling.

And with our team managers on board, they got straight down to business.

You know what I have a good feeling about?

I am going to blank Matt LeBlanc.

Ha-ha! I'm not going to speak to him.

I'm just going to eyeball him, and I'm just going to stare into him.

Stare into me?

That's...creepy.

Anyway, I had plans of my own.

We need to try to get in Chris Harris' head a little bit.

-Ja?

-We need to try to ask him, "Are you sure you will be OK?

"You sure you're going to be all right?"

-Because his confidence is easy to shatter.

-OK.

-OK?

Actually, it wasn't my confidence they needed to worry about.

SABINE SHRIEKS

-We got bloody stuck!

-SHE CHUCKLES

What on earth have they got themselves into?

They are properly stuck.

Stuck?

No, no, no. This is Sabine Schmitz we're talking about.

Both sides!

THEY CHEER

-Ha-ha!

-Well, well, well. How was that?

Did you enjoy your time in the mountains, then?

-A little bit.

-Was there a problem with the car?

Well, we went the difficult way, you went the easy way.

-We traced exactly the same route as yours.

-I don't think you did.

-And it's not "ROUT", it's "ROOT".

-Tell them they went a different way.

Surely... They are the king of the practice,

we are the kings of the race.

Let's have a beer, I am bloody thirsty.

-Nice job.

-Hanging around in the rocks.

Way to go, right around that hard section.

Drive slowly and safe.

I'm feeling good now.

-I'm done with them...

-We've done enough today.

I thought you were going to ignore him and not talk to him.

-You said...

-Oh.

You've just spent ten minutes talking to him.

With our day's practice drawing to a close,

we headed back to Hammer Town

and joined the thousands of fans settling down for the night.

And with the next day's race looming even larger,

Chris was a little preoccupied.

There are actually at least eight other locals in our race tomorrow

and I'm looking at the runners and riders here,

they're a bit good.

I think we're fighting over penultimate and last.

I feel like your confidence is a bit shattered.

You know they airlifted four guys out of here today?

-Was it four or five?

-I know what you're trying to do.

What am I trying to do?

I care about you, I want you to know what you're getting into.

What do you mean they airlifted people out from here?

Big wrecks. I mean, full-on... HE WHISTLES

Cartwheel wrecks, bad stuff.

SABINE LAUGHS

When you were managing F1 teams,

was there any, like, motivational speeches before the race,

the night before, anything you told them to do?

The drivers would be sent to bed, at the latest, ten o'clock.

But prior to that, they'd all have a massage.

-Massage?

-Massage?

-A massage.

What type of...?

Well, I don't know - that's between Eddie and Chris.

THEY LAUGH

If that's what he needs to do for his driver,

that's what he does for his driver, it's got nothing to do with us.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

All right. Now, we'll see the second half of that film

a little later on in the show.

Chris, have you done any off-road driving?

Nothing like that.

I did drive a Dakar rally car a few years ago in Morocco.

That was pretty cool.

But I drove Colin McRae's

1995 replica World Championship-winning car

about three or four years ago,

on the final stage, where he won his world title in Wales in the GB Rally

and that was amazing.

He's a massive, massive hero of mine,

so that was a privilege to do that.

All right, guys, have a look at this.

In the studio, we've got a brand-new car

that's going to compete in a brand-new race series

that's going to make F1 look like the Stone Age.

700 horsepower, all carbon fibre, and the best thing of all,

it was designed by the same guy who did the Tron Light Cycles.

-Wow! That's really cool-looking.

-Yeah.

Just one tiny...tiny question -

where does the driver sit?

There is no driver. This is a Robocar.

It's a self-racing racer.

Basically, in a couple of years,

20 of these things will be hooning around the track,

competing against each other.

Robot versus robot. How cool is that?

I genuinely don't understand it, Rory.

So we're supposed to get excited about one robot

racing another robot?

It's robots having a race.

What do you not understand about that?

There's something fundamental missing, dude - the driver!

AUDIENCE MURMURS IN AGREEMENT

We go to watch motor racing

to see gladiators controlling machines,

going wheel to wheel.

Not to watch one processor having a go at another bloke called Intel.

It just doesn't... It's utterly meaningless.

It's a great-looking thing and I'm sure it's fast.

What do you reckon?

-Yeah, I have to agree - sorry, Rory.

-All right.

I love innovation, new technology, but it's about the human element.

You have to care about the person that's driving it.

You know what you could do?

You could put some jockeys on it.

You know what I mean?

-LAUGHING:

-Now you're talking!

Could put maybe some foot pegs back here,

couple of clip-ons here, get on the thing like this...

LAUGHTER

And off they go.

APPLAUSE

And then the last one on the car wins.

You could be the first one to try it.

You know what? I'm good, I'm good.

So, over the last few weeks,

I've been serving up a whole bunch of amazing electric cars

and Matt and Chris keep batting them down

because, well, they fear progress.

But there's a new Nissan that I think could change their minds

and, earlier today, I went out to meet it on our track.

This is the Nissan Blade Glider and it's an electric concept car.

But here's the difference - this one actually drives, fast.

And it's got three seats, so it's the perfect way

to convert a couple of electric car sceptics.

What is, er... What is this?

Gentlemen, behold the future. What do you think?

What is it?

Well, it's the Blade Glider.

It actually drifts - it's got a built-in drift mode.

It's made for skidding!

-Really?

-That's very exciting, but looks like you'd get

a grant on the NHS for it, but other than that...

-So you say it drifts?

-Want to have a go?

Yes, I think we should drive it. At least we might be drier inside.

-Oh, there's no roof.

-LAUGHING:

-No, there's no roof.

-Now I've got your interest.

-You have.

If it drifts, of course, I'm driving, Rory, not you.

-Sorry about that.

-Get in. Here we go.

How the hell do you shut the door?

Is there a button?

THEY LAUGH

There you go. Oh, yeah. I mean...

-What's the horsepower?

-260-odd?

264 horses, gentlemen.

Top speed of at least 115mph.

That's impressive.

For a garbage truck.

For a sports car, maybe not so much.

Where's the accelerator? There we go.

Well, it feels pretty frisky from the driver's seat, guys.

It just feels like it's ready to drift, doesn't it?

Rory, you might be persuading me

about the validity of electric cars here.

TYRES SCREECH

Yes!

THEY LAUGH

He loves it! He loves it.

I think he's having a good time!

TYRES SCREECH

Whoa!

LAUGHTER

That's not bad.

For me, it's a philosophical point.

It's fun - I don't care about all the cleverness.

Someone's just gone, "Let's make it fun."

There you go, there you go.

It is fun.

All right, chuck it in here, fast.

Yes! Nice one!

Woohoo!

What do you call an electric doughnut?

That's the name of my new band.

THEY LAUGH

So what do we think?

A winner?

Yeah, I think so. Chris?

-Thumbs up from me, definitely.

-Yeah. I like it.

All right - one more lap before we go?

-Definitely.

-Can I drive?

-No.

-No. Where does it say, "Traction control off"?

Good, right, let's go.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Pretty fun.

-There you go.

-I didn't think it was going to be fun.

-Oh, come on.

I know I convinced you guys in the end,

but, Chris, what's your feeling on electric cars?

Well, electric cars in general,

I thought the whole point is it's about being eco-friendly,

about being green and sensible.

-I mean, that looked like a lot of fun.

-Yeah.

-You could convert me, potentially.

-All right.

I was so convinced, honestly.

I don't really buy into so much of it,

but the fun message - that thing reeked of fun.

It was wonderful.

-We were smiling, all three of us.

-Yeah, it was great.

The looks, I think the jury's still out

on the looks of the thing, but...

-And the doors.

-And the doors.

-And the roof.

-Yeah.

The door you can't reach to close once you get in is difficult.

All right - now, I think it's time to see how you did

in your timed lap around the track.

But before we do, after you finished your time in the car with Chris,

you went out and had one more go on your own, didn't you?

-I did, yes.

-What happened?

Well, I just like to think that I was pushing,

trying to find the limits of the car,

the track, the grip,

finding how far I could push it

and I essentially just touched the outside kerb on the follow-through,

just enough so it started to lose it.

Thought I'd caught it, but...yeah, didn't.

We have it on tape. You want to see it?

-Have you? I thought you might!

-Let's take a look at that.

TYRES SCREECH

Oh!

Oh, oh, oh, oh! AUDIENCE OOHS

Couple of points here.

LAUGHTER

First of all, well done for not dying.

Yeah, yeah, that's good.

-Next, the way I see this...

-Yeah.

..Michael Schumacher's race weekends

always started off with him pushing too far, didn't it?

Always go too far, find the limits

-before you actually get into the competitive aspect.

-There we go.

-That's what you were doing.

-That's it.

You were getting rid of all of those negative urges,

getting all the bad stuff out the way,

ready for a perfect performance.

It's like auto mechanics.

You tighten the bolt till it snaps, then you back off a quarter-turn.

LAUGHTER

But you did manage to eventually complete a lap, yeah?

I got a lap in, but...

Yeah, well, it wasn't a perfect lap.

-Are you ready?

-I'm ready. Let's do it.

OK - who wants to see his lap?

-AUDIENCE:

-Yeah!

Here we go.

OK, off the line.

Bit of clutch riding, but I think that was a good start.

This is the one, this is the one.

Bit of self-encouragement as well.

Oh, yes - getting the car rotated under brakes. That was fast.

-Third gear through there?

-Yeah.

Using all the track, and a little bit more, too - that's good.

Messy, messy.

A little bit of tail-wagging, but that's fast.

Over-stopping the car.

Second through Chicago.

I love the way you put the wipers on to make us think it's raining...

-LAUGHTER

-..when it wasn't raining.

That was good gamesmanship, I like that.

Now, flat-out down the back straight,

braking between 150, probably closer to the 50.

Triggering those hazard warning lights.

This line looks good to me.

Did you let the car roll out?

You didn't open the steering as much as I thought.

Too much oversteer.

-You found grip on the inside, didn't you?

-Yeah.

So you'd been thinking there, that was clever.

Down the back straight.

There's a cameraman, try not to hit him.

Good idea(!)

So now, this turn point...

-AUDIENCE OOHS

-That is rapid.

Woo-hoo-hoo!

Now, back through the tyre wall.

You're not lacking in the, um...trouser department there.

OK, last two corners.

Be brave!

That's mega. You're triggering those lights,

which shows maximum braking.

But now, over the line and a bit of grass...

And a yump.

-Oh...!

-APPLAUSE

-That...was...dead impressive.

-Thank you.

Oh, thanks, mate.

That looked quick.

That's the most committed I've seen around here.

Absolutely, by far, yeah.

And the conditions weren't perfect.

-They were drier than your windscreen wiper action suggested.

-Come on!

I suppose, looking at it there, I'm wondering...

Where could you have gone quicker?

It looked like you were maxed out everywhere.

I was pushing it, but I made mistakes on,

I think, the first left-hander.

-Could have been a bit tighter there.

-Yeah.

And I could have used more width of the track

going to that right-hander, the follow-through.

-Yeah.

-Possibly. But if you go too far,

you touch the painted kerb and you see what happened.

-Yes.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think it's a really, really impressive effort.

Hopes are high.

-This is a big moment, I'm excited.

-Me too.

Top of our leaderboard is still Max Whitlock,

the super gymnast, with the 1:39.5.

His double lay-in, half-in, half-out,

has this almost...mournful quality to it, it's just...

LAUGHTER

Anyway, that's besides the point.

He has two gold medals.

You have six gold medals.

So, on paper,

you should be three times faster than him.

LAUGHTER Is that correct?

-I'm twice his weight, though.

-That doesn't matter.

-All right. Are we ready?

-Let's do it.

Sir Chris Hoy, you did it...

That's my favourite part.

-..in one minute...

-Yes...

-30...

-Yes...

-..5.4.

-Oh!

-No!

-Really? Wow, thank you!

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you, man. Thank you very much, cheers.

-That is mega.

-Thanks, man. Cheers.

Thank you. Thank you, mate.

Mate, you were amazing, really good.

Right to the top, man. That is good! Way to go.

I didn't think that at all.

Ladies and gentlemen, Sir Chris Hoy.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-That will not be beaten for some time.

-No.

That will not be beaten for some time.

That was driving the wheels off it, as they say.

OK, now it's time to head back to King of the Hammers.

Earlier, we saw Sabine and Chris

training for their big off-road showdown,

aided by my words of encouragement and Eddie's deep tissue massage.

But things were about to get serious.

Really serious.

Race Day at King of the Hammers.

Sabine and Chris would soon be competing in an off-road race

to claim the coveted title

of Top Gear's Fastest Driver Apart From The Stig.

But after some overenthusiastic practice the day before...

Left, left!

-Come on.

-CLANKING

-I don't think it liked that.

-CLANKING

..Team Jordan had issues.

-What have you done here?

-What have I done?

The vehicle has let itself down.

Are you joking me?

This was brand-new, running perfectly.

You don't turn left when I tell you to turn left,

you break the machine.

You're a car wrecker.

How did anyone ever drive for you?

Very easy - they didn't do silly things like this.

Years ago, I would have said to the driver,

"You are a complete dick."

I'm supposed to have a positive mental vibe from you,

you're beating me up.

Course I'm beating you up, because I don't want the same again.

I need you to believe. Find that commitment...

I like Eddie. He's so cool.

You're going to win.

Just feel the vibes. Feel the good vibes inside you.

Don't talk to me. Don't talk to me.

I am not talking to him.

-He's not a nice man...

-You look concerned.

You look a little concerned.

At the moment, I don't have a vehicle to go in the race, do I?

Yes, we have this. Look. It's magic.

This is the car. Look at this.

Ooh, it's got a Texas flag on it.

Get out of here.

I love it when you act like you don't like me, it's great.

-I hate you.

-You don't hate me...

-I like Sabine.

-I am not a proper lady.

-You are a scumbag.

-A scumbag?

-You're trying to damage my man's head.

-Scumbag! Hold on.

-It's damaged already.

-You're a scumbag.

-Scumbag?

'Old people are funny.

'But with the atmosphere heavy with prerace tension,

'it was soon time for our drivers to make their way to the track -

'if you could call it that.'

The race would start on the choppy desert floor

with Eddie and I keeping watch from a high vantage point.

Here, our drivers would battle the dust

to reach the unforgiving rock face beyond.

After a brutal uphill scramble, a perilous ledge,

ending in a do-or-die descent

and a chance to get the hammer down back on the flats.

Negotiating another short boulder pass,

a fast sequence of banked turns and flat-out jumps

completes the lap.

And they'll be doing all of that eight times.

So before the race was due to begin,

we headed out with our drivers to offer some encouragement

at the toughest stage of all, the Rock Wall...

..towering over 200 feet above us.

Oh, my Jesus...

-I mean, what the

-BLEEP? EDDIE CHUCKLES

So the part that's tricky here is if you're right behind someone,

you've just got to single-file up it.

-I guess you could maybe try that side on the right...

-Oh, God.

..to pass someone, but what do you do when you get to this?

You've just got to check up and go single file, right?

Yeah. So just do it.

Unlike the previous day's boulder crawl,

during the race, these loose rock scrambles

would have to be attacked at speed.

Whoa...whoa...

And on near-vertical faces,

rolling the car was a very real danger.

But at least Sabine was in full control.

SHE SCREAMS

The steering wheel came off.

-BLEEP

-hell!

-BLEEP

-hell!

Oh, man.

-BLEEP

-hell!

I don't want to have the steering wheel come off.

What have we got ourselves into, here?

Top man.

Nice and easy. You're OK.

'Having reached the top of the rock wall, though,

'there was still the small matter of getting back down...'

This is mental.

-Oh!

-CLANKING

THUDDING Oh!

'..quickly learning that this was a race about bravery

'as much as speed.'

Can we go back now?

CHRIS LAUGHS

We decided we had offered our drivers enough encouragement

and headed back to the pits.

I'm glad I'm not in the car with you for the race.

Oh...this is crazy.

'And after some final tweaks to the cars,

'we said our last goodbyes to Sabine and Chris.

'Well, not our last goodbyes, but... You know what I mean.'

It was time for them to take their places

out of the way at the back of the grid.

Because in this Legends Class race,

they were pitted against some of the best talent in Hammer history -

all hardened veterans in an event

where simply finishing is an achievement.

From the sport's fastest female,

to mavericks

and seasoned warriors.

So really, this was a race within a race.

Schmitz versus Harris.

Oof!

Serious business.

-It's crazy.

-You can't believe this, can you?

OK, we're getting close.

You stay focused and you stay out of the roost, OK?

Strategy.

Usual thing, just jump the start, if you can.

Make sure you put the guy beside you into the wall.

The rest follows on from there.

OK, Harris.

I am on a mission and I just want to beat you.

All I can ever think about on the grid

is the fact that I wish I'd had another wee.

The desert would wait no longer.

Eight laps of off-road endurance.

Let the battle commence.

-ANNOUNCER:

-Three, two, one...go!

Damn it!

Oh, what a start.

-So much

-BLEEP

-in my face.

Good one, my man. Go on, Chris.

I don't see anything.

You're OK, Sabine.

Keep going, keep going. I know the dust is bad.

Just think about it as the Nurburgring in the Stone Ages.

SHE LAUGHS

'Despite the dust, we were both off to a promising start,

'but that Rock Wall was looming.'

Oh, God.

Rocks being thrown in my face.

I can't see where I'm going.

This is horrendous.

'But, somehow, we weren't just in a two-car race at the back.'

There's Chris in fourth place.

Go on, Chris. Go on, my son!

'No, we were right in the mix.'

Whoo!

-CRASH!

-Oh! I hit them.

-Where's Sabine?

-Woo-hoo-hoo!

Oh, look at that!

Come on, Chris.

At the top of the wall, they were up with the pros,

which should have given them some real confidence.

Oh, my God, what am I doing this for?

This is crazy.

Oh, my God - just let it go, let it go, man.

Let it go!

'Back down on the desert floor...

'..Sabine was on my tail.

'And as we tore through the rest of the course...'

Whoo...

hoo!

'..we saw what Hammer racing was really all about.'

Come on!

'Off-road open warfare.'

Let's see where my man is.

-He's in third.

-Third?!

Go on, Chris.

'Survival of the fittest.'

Oh, my heavens. That was close.

'But as the laps piled on...'

Come on, Sabine. Push, push, push!

'..they weren't just battling the other racers.'

No, you're not coming past me, you American...!

These rocks are really crazy.

I need to turn right.

'The course was fighting back, too.'

-Uh-oh.

-Hang on a second.

-She's stuck.

Reverse, just a little bit. Not much, maybe five feet.

'Snared by the rocks on the worst part of the course,

'Sabine was losing precious time...'

Turn the wheels all the way to the right and go forward.

'..and the rest of the pack were getting away.'

All right, try to go slow, backwards.

Straight back, slow.

Back little a bit more, a little bit more.

You might have to come off that ledge.

'One wrong instruction from me and she could roll.'

All right, stop right there.

Turn the wheels the other way and go forward. To the right.

There you go.

Atta girl. Yeah! Good girl.

You're a star, you're a star. All right.

That's OK.

"That's OK"?

Oh, she lost a lot of time there.

'Back up and running, to hunt down Chris,

'Sabine would need wring out all 500 horsepower

'from her 6.4-litre V8.'

Keep your pace, keep your pace.

Holy crow...

-THUDDING

-Oh,

-BLEEP!

As she tried to reel him back in,

Chris, already on his second car of the event,

was now in trouble again.

I've got a gearbox issue, I think.

I can't get into second.

Never mind the second gear, you're doing brilliant, keep going.

I've got a transmission issue, now.

'Despite Eddie's encouragement,

'losing gears at this stage was a serious issue.'

Beautiful, beautiful. Power, power, power, power.

'And, entering the final stages of the race,

'Sabine was pushing hard to hunt down Chris.'

Come on, Chris, keep that power going.

This is so strong, just make sure you look after the car.

'But with Chris's car still just about holding together,

'Hammer racing claimed another victim.'

-Oh, no.

-The car's smoking, we've got smoke coming out of the back.

-The car's on fire.

-Holy

-BLEEP!

That looked like some bad smoke coming out of Sabine's car.

'So near the finish, Sabine was determined to keep going.

'But with the smoke only getting worse,

'as team manager, I had no choice.'

All right, Sabine, pull off, pull off.

Pull off to the left.

Stop, stop, stop!

Way off the circuit.

Get out of the car.

You're in a safe spot to get out, just get out.

Just get out.

Whaa!

Is she all right?

Yeah, she's out. She's OK.

HE WHISTLES

With Sabine safe, but out of the race...

The big trick is now to finish.

..to claim the title of fastest driver,

I had just half a lap to go.

All I could do was hold on and hope.

Oh, my Lord.

My legs are knackered, my arms are knackered.

I've got a mouth full of rocks and I've got one gear.

Oh! That nearly went over.

Come on, more power, more power.

'This had been one of the toughest races of my life.

'Bashed up.'

Oh!

'Bruised.'

Oh, blimey.

'Battered.'

Oh...!

Last corner.

'And finally...'

You beauty! You beauty!

'..over.'

I can safely say...

..I'm not sure if I could do that again.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Yes.

-Congratulations to Chris.

He finished fourth overall. Amazing performance.

And with that, I am delighted to award you the prize

for Top Gear's Fastest Driver Apart From The Stig.

-Congratulations.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Um, I'm not sure I can...

I'm not sure I can accept that, Rory.

Of course you can accept it. You earned it, you won!

-You're a winner.

-I'll take the award,

but the trophy is absolutely horrid.

It's of a pigeon.

Eddie, how did that event compare to what you've seen in F1?

Terrifying, absolutely.

I had no idea what I was letting myself in for.

It was horrific.

Formula 1, poles apart, don't even compare the two.

-SABINE:

-I think so.

-Quite different,

but between the dust and the boulders

and the transmission problems and, er...

well, the fire,

I'm not sure that's the best way to determine who was fastest.

-I'm really glad that we decided to do best two out of three.

-Right.

I'm sorry?

LAUGHTER

We decided it was the best of three? When?

Yes, I did. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, you're up for another challenge, right, Sabine?

-Yeah.

-Different cars, different course?

Yeah, bring it on.

I need a car that's well prepared, which doesn't break down

and I'll take that little trophy

from that little racing driver over there.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Chris Harris, do you accept that challenge?

-Sabine...

It will be a pleasure to beat you on another continent.

Maybe this continent is named Nurburgring?

-AUDIENCE OOHS

-Let's...let's see...

Oh, that's worrying. Let's see what happens.

Sounds like it's on. OK, on next week's show,

a very green, very noisy Mercedes.

-And a revolutionary road trip across Cuba.

-See you then.

-Good night.

-Good night.

-Good night.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE