airport racing top gear
YouTube: Top Gear

Airport Vehicle Racing Gets Destructive in Classic "Top Gear" Episode


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P27oVdvb3Z8

Top Gear is known for doing some pretty unconventional stunts, and that's no different for this episode of the BBC TV show. Normally, when Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, or James May want to take a drive on at an airport, they'll bring along some fast high-priced car like an Aston Martin, Audi R8, Mercedes AMG, or Lamborghini. To switch things up, during Top Gear season 14 they decided to go airport vehicle racing and matched up the wide variety of vehicles against each other.

As you might expect, these vehicles are not exactly fast like a supercar, but that didn't stop them from having a wild race. We're talking about a race including an airport baggage train, fire truck, fuel truck, transport bus, mobile stair truck, and even a plane tow vehicle. On top of that, the crew brought in professional motorsports drivers to keep things competitive. Prior to the start, it was announced that the drivers weren't allowed to hit each other, and it seemed like it would be a pretty boring race. It was anything but that.

Thanks to the drivers that completely ignored the no-contact rule, this circuit race become much more exciting when it essentially turned into an all-out demolition derby. As they take off from the starting line, the bus is surprisingly motoring and makes its way to the front of the pack. Hammond falls to the back in the fire truck, and the professional drivers decide to kick things up a notch. The vehicles slide all over the place, after being pushed beyond their limits around the corners, and it doesn't take long before the collisions start.

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Hammond decides to add to the challenge by spraying the entire track down with water from the fire truck. After multiple hard hits, the fuel truck is the first to fall out of the race. The stair truck was next to be eliminated, after it took a turn too quickly and flipped to its side. Since the airplane tow vehicle and the baggage train were equally slow and in the back, the battle was between the fire truck and the catering truck. Unfortunately, the catering truck proved to be too top heavy and eventually falls to its side as well, crowning the fire truck the king of airport vehicles.

And, if you can believe it, that's only one part of this episode. It also features segments on the Audi Q7 V12, Range Rover Overfinch 580 S, Renaultsport Twingo 133, and the BMW X5 M, which The Stig also takes around the track. Guy Ritchie even comes on later as the celebrity guest driver. There's no doubt that this was an action-packed episode.

This is the reason we all loved Top Gear, and why we're thankful the hosts can still be found in new episodes of The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime Video. You never quite know what crazy thing they're going to come up with. Whether they're in a Corvette or a minivan, they'll certainly have some fun with it.

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