Former Grand Tour and Top Gear hosts James May and Richard Hammond have embarked on a race from A-to-B between a car and plane, a format familiar from the old TG days. In fact, it's nearly 20 years since the very first: Bugatti Veyron versus Cessna 182 from Alba in Italy to London, first broadcast in the UK in December 2005.
No Clarkson this time (he drove the Bugatti originally) and the race was pure-electric, with May being flown in a plug-in plane, the Pipistrel Velis Electro, and Hammond driving a Porsche Taycan Turbo GT.
The race was filmed for Drivetribe, the car-culture website founded by the TG trio back in 2016. It's now focused exclusively on social media channels (of the original three, only Hammond still retains a significant shareholding).
But there was a massive nod to the old days with the race starting at Henstridge Airfield on the Somerset/Dorset border and finishing at Dunsfold Aerodrome, former workplace of the two presenters and home of the famous TG test track.
In classic TG-race format, the 174km route (129km as the crow flies) was selected to make the contest as close as possible. Unlike the old TG European adventures, strict UK speed limits governed the Taycan's journey; but the plane's advantage was undermined by the need to stop and recharge half-way at Thruxton Aerodrome (full-charge flight time is only about 50min).
So Hammond didn't strictly need the Taycan Turbo GT's 1240Nm and 0-100km/h acceleration of 2.3sec, although he did get to unleash it briefly on the runway at race-start.
Throughout the race, the plane benefitted from a strong tailwind of about 20-30 knots, giving May confidence in his chances of victory – and prompting him to enjoy perhaps one cup of tea too many during his charging stop at Thruxton.
In the end, the car won - as is TG tradition. Despite the on-screen antics and banter, the race was actually run for real (as were the original TG features). Watch it in the video at the top of this story.
There's also quite a good (even more interesting, perhaps) behind-the-scenes video of how the race was run and filmed. Check it out below.
