BBC locked Top Gear offices when did his final lap of the famous racetrack
Jeremy Clarkson has revealed how the BBC locked the Top Gear offices to stop him taking a souvenir when he returned to the set to drive his last ever lap.
The controversial former host of the much-loved TV show described how he felt “a bit choked” as he went through the gates of the famous race track one last time.
Clarkson, who was sacked from Top Gear earlier this year and is being replaced by new host Chris Evans, took part in the “last hurrah” last week – a lap around the track for charity.
“I was feeling a bit choked as I went through the gates for the very last time,” he said of the event.
“The Top Gear portable office was locked to stop me taking even a small souvenir. The hangar was empty.”
However, writing in The Sunday Times, the 55-year-old added that the track was “full of enough memories” to keep him going.
"It was time for the last lap. And I made it a good one. A smooth one. The sort of lap that would have made the Stig proud,” he said.
Clarkson's BBC contract was not renewed after an internal inquiry in March found he had assaulted Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon in a row over a hotel meal.
He and former co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May are free to make a different kind of motoring show ITV, but are thought more likely to go to an online broadcaster such as Netflix or Amazon which are not covered by a clause in their odl BBC contracts that stop them making a rival car show on another UK channel.
The last lap raised £100,000 for the Roundhouse, a London-based charity which supports disadvantaged youngsters.