It’s an age-old question in motoring and motorsport: which is faster, a fast car driven by a slow driver or a slow car driven by a fast one?
The British used car listings brand AutoTrader has elected to put this to the test in a special challenge that involves GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough, a pair of performance Audis, and a well-known race track Surrey.
AutoTrader’s definitions of “slow” are a little unkind in this instance. For starters, the slow driver is none other than former Top Gear host Rory Reid. Reid’s been heading up AT’s YouTube channel since 2019, but as an experience motoring journalist he’s had plenty of experience in rapid cars, including on track.
More to the point, he’s also got plenty of local knowledge for the location as the challenge took place at the former Top Gear test track at the Dunsfold Aerodrome. His rival, Mardenborough, has never driven there before aside from playing it in Gran Turismo 5.
Mardenborough is further hindered by machinery. While Reid is piloting the final hurrah for the Audi R8, in the shape of its real-wheel drive and appropriately named RWD model, Mardenborough is in the S3 hatchback. Not even an RS3, but at least the S3 has been breathed on a bit with 333hp and all-wheel drive.
The challenge was for each driver to set the best possible time, with Reid so confident he promises to quit the channel if he loses. That doesn’t start well, with the co-host spinning the R8 through the Follow-Through kink.
Meanwhile Mardenborough heads out for a few learning laps of the course, all the while being interviewed by co-host Alex Legouix over his success in GT Academy, the Gran Turismo movie, and “that” incident at the Nurburgring back in 2015.
We won’t spoil the results of the head-to-head, but suffice to say that the cars were not exactly very far apart on their timed laps, and were just about level with the official Power Lap time set by The Stig in the TVR Sagaris in 2005.
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