Big changes are on the horizon for The Grand Tour. Recognizing several faults in the show, the team decided to remove one of the weakest links — and no we aren’t talking about Richard Hammond.
The boys sent The American, NASCAR driver Mike Skinner, packing. Apparently, he didn’t take the news very well, but he’s been the subject of many of the show’s complaints. This, obviously, leaves a big vacancy in the team that needs filling.
Thankfully, Clarkson, Hammond, and May all have potential candidates in mind. In a series of shorts, we get a look at who they’ve been eyeing who to fill the role. The only qualifications posed by Clarkson is that the driver “musn’t be fat, clumsy or slow.”
Clarkson’s candidate is former F1 and Le Mans driver Mark Webber. Webber seems like a good choice since he’s newly retired from the world of racing. He also has nearly two decades of racing experience from teams like Porsche, Mercedes-AMG, Red Bull, and Williams.
For his interview, he’s given two cars to lap the Ebola Drome — a Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Mercedes-AMG GT R. The interview is less than stellar though. Webber, who is currently a Porsche representative, rather likes the GT3 RS. However, it seems he’s not fond of the competition. With a lap time that makes a Dacia Sandero look quick, the boys are less than pleased.
Scratching Webber’s name from the list, Hammond introduces his candidate: a stuntman. This isn’t the first time the boys used a stuntman for their show either. Top Gear Stunt Man made a few appearances during Series 11 of Top Gear and most notably set the world record for jumping an Austin Allegro backward over some cars.
The Grand Tour Stuntman — which is in no way related to TG Stunt Man — kicks off his interview in a Renault Clio. It seems like it’s going well until he spots a ramp. His stuntman instincts kick in and he launches the Cilo, which ends up inside The Grand Tour production office.
Hammond insists on giving him another chance, this time in a Renault Megane. However, it seems like old habits die hard with stunt drivers and almost immediately the driver seizes the opportunity to launch the car off another ramp.
With The Grand Tour Stuntman out of the running, May brings in his candidate, a retired car thief. May hands over the keys to the BMW M4 CS to the ex-thief and lets him have a go at the track.
In a blazing start, the ex-thief is off to a good start and really driving like he stole it. When an opportunity presents itself though the driver makes a break for it, going from ex-thief to just thief.
Looks like May now needs to explain to BMW what happened to their car.
With all three presenters failing to come up with a suitable replacement the search continues. Looks like we will need to wait a couple more weeks to see who makes the grade and bags the job.
The Grand Tour returns December 6 for Amazon Prime customers.
See more articles on James May, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and The Grand Tour.
