September 9, 2007 Top Gear goes 24hr
After planting a field's worth of biofuel in the last series of Top Gear it was inevitable Jeremy and the boys would eventually have to figure out a way to burn it. And this weekend they did, by having a go at some Le Mans-style endurance racing.
But forget the dizzy heights of FIA GTs. We were at a disappointingly overcast Silverstone to film Jeremy, Richard, James and Stig race an old shape 3-Series at the Britcar 24hr for the new series of Top Gear next month.
The paddock area behind the pit lane was a melee of catering vans, shouting mechanics and flapping race marshals, but nothing could match the panic of the TG garage. Niggles and teething problems with the BMW had already robbed the mechanics of a night's sleep and with the race deadline looming the car was still in pieces.
At 4.30pm the rest of the grid received the green light but Team Top Gear had missed the line-up and were forced to start from the pitlane. Stig was up first, though, and after a series of best-in-class laps things were looking up.
James took the next session and maintained steady progress, despite describing the practice sessions as 'like driving backwards through a supercar showroom'. He was six seconds off Stig's pace but faring well for a motorsport first-timer.
Jeremy had also collected his licence just days before the race and was openly concerned about his 'dangerous blend of aggression, confidence and incompetence', but found a pace even Stig managed a respectful nod at.
By the time Clarkson pitted to allow Richard to start his session, night had properly fallen. Things were getting difficult now - the mechanics had been awake fixing glitches for 48 hours straight and the team was shuffling the stop strategy around scrapes and breakdowns to squeeze in some sleep for the drivers.
James drew the short straw and started his second session during sunrise - the period of a 24hr race where you are most prone to zoning out and finding gravel. But the boys stuck to their rota and battled through difficult weather and regular safety car appearances to settle into a decent midfield pace.
After losing an entire weekend bluffing race strategy and collecting cold cups of coffee TopGear.com can reveal just one detail - Team Top Gear finished third in class (out of five) and 39th overall out of the 60-odd cars that entered. To experience the real agony of that achievement you'll have to wait for October, when the new series of Top Gear returns to BBC Two.
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