We need to talk about ‘car-sick-gate’. This was the incident, widely covered in the newspapers in January, when Top Gear's new lead presenter Chris Evans had to ask his driver, the German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, to pull over at the side of the infamous “corkscrew” section at the Laguna Seca test track in California so that he could very politely throw up.
Evans takes it in the right spirit when he thinks back to the ribbing he received at the time. He says his pain was lessened when Schmitz went on to do another driving stunt at the Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada with a Top Gun pilot in her passenger seat, and the airman proceeded to lose his lunch at the edge of the track.
Sitting across the table from me in the studio at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, Evans is on sparky form. He is clearly fired up by the prospect of driving the show for at least the next three years.
Same shtick, different presenter: first show reviewed
He laughs that, “The corkscrew at Laguna Seca will do it for anyone. I was so relieved when that Top Gun pilot threw up. No offence to him. I feel massively for him, and he's never going to hear the end of it from the guys at base. But I thank him. I owe him a big drink, actually!” Evans's co-presenter, Matt LeBlanc, is suitably sympathetic. “I've done probably 700 laps around the Laguna Seca, mostly on a motorcycle, and even if you're driving, it's very disorientating.
Have they got the right chemistry?
Here we go #TopGear pic.twitter.com/5TPfTN0fsW
— Top Gear (@BBC_TopGear) May 29, 2016
Evans, the host of the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, the most popular radio programme in the UK, and LeBlanc, the star of Friends, the most popular sitcom in the world, are very comfortable in each other's company. They exhibit the light-hearted joshing and ability to take the mickey out of each other that can only stem from close friendship.
LeBlanc, says he and Evans clicked from the moment they went on their first road trip together to Blackpool. After a rainy day in a pair of roofless Reliant Rialtos, they wound up at 11pm totally drenched at a castle in the North West of England.
The presenter takes up the story. “We came into the library, and there was this fire and two glasses of wine and a map. We sat down in this beautiful castle thinking, ‘OK, this is different. What are we going to talk about here?’ We just spit-balled ideas, and we came up with something which I hope was funny.
“When you can see out of the corner of your eye the cameramen laughing and shaking, you think, 'Alright, I think we're on the right track here.' We had an absolute blast. I have never been so cold and wet and muddy while still smiling. That's not something that usually induces a smile. The film was just Chris and me. We had great fun. I know I laughed my ass off the whole weekend, so hopefully that will translate onto the screen.”
The rumours aren’t true
This ease in each other's company gives the lie to the press rumours that Evans and LeBlanc have fallen out. Becoming suddenly animated, Evans asserts that the stories about the alleged acrimony between the pair come, “From someone's bored fingers. But as long as it's not true, I don't care - and none of it is true. One article had 27 lies in it. Does that bother me? No, there's no point getting upset about it.
"It's like car Tinder."
Take a peek inside the #TopGear office with @achrisevans and @matt_leblanc. https://t.co/KmInPs1kxF
— Top Gear BBCAmerica (@TopGear_BBCA) May 20, 2016
“I had previous form with the press, but this coverage was just at a different level. The second the nonsense started being written, though, I was actually quite relieved. I knew I didn't have to engage with it because it was all nonsense. The coverage went so far, it actually did me a favour.”
50-year-old Evans continues that, “I've been at the BBC for 11 years, and I have made a lot of mistakes. But I also know about pressure. In many ways, my job this year has been to take all the crap which was always going to happen. My job has been to get the show through this transitional period.”
Not concerned about critics
In the same way, Evans says he is not concerned about critics of the new show. “I can't do anything about the reviews. Every time we make a film, we simply forget about all that other stuff. We just get on with it. If you worry about what other people think, you take away from what you're actually doing.”
The opening show, which airs in SA at 8pm on Wednesday, has a new feature in which they go head to head on a freshly created course boasting a jump, a water splash, mud and gravel as. In addition, Evans will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie Top Gun by competing in a Dodge Viper ACR against a Chevy Corvette Z06 driven by Schmitz.
Chris and I are used to pressure situations, which this definitely is. That's how it was with 'Friends' back in the day. You might have thought that the idea of taking over from Clarkson, Hammond and May - whose own new motoring show, The Grand Tour, begins on Amazon Prime later this year - would overwhelm the new team with nerves.
Remarkably relaxed
After all, the previous trio helped jet-propel Top Gear to the position of the BBC Worldwide 's most successful programme globally, generating a reported £50 million (R1.15bn) a year in revenue. And within 72 hours of making its debut on BBC2, the retooled show will be broadcast in 83 countries on six continents.
And yet, all the new presenters of Top Gear - Schmitz, former Formula 1 boss Eddie Jordan and motoring journalists Chris Harris and Rory Reid will each be fronting different segments of the show alongside Evans and LeBlanc - seem remarkably relaxed.
LeBlanc says that, “I am not nervous. Chris and I are used to pressure situations, which this definitely is. That's how it was with Friends back in the day. If you had asked me that same question then, I would have said, 'You shut the door, and you get on with filming this intimate show about six people and their lives. Once it's out of the door, it's out of our hands.' This is very similar here.”
Nor do the new presenters of Top Gear seem threatened by potential comparisons with the old guard. Surrounded by many of the star cars from the forthcoming series - including the two mudspattered Reliant Rialtos and the Dodge Viper - Jordan is bullish about taking on his friend Clarkson. “I know Jeremy particularly well, and I'm a huge fan. I like him. But that doesn't mean I don't want to be absolutely so much better.
Of course, we want to beat the other guys. That''s no different to anybody who has a competitive urge in their body. Yes, we admire what they did, there’s no question about that. The previous show was brilliant, but I think this will be a surprise for you guys. When you see what we've done, we’re going to be better.”
Jordan continues: I know that there is an eagerness not just a focus on the previous presenters - that would be completely wrong - but I think this will be a very different show. They had a very successful past, but I think you will find this show will be more successful to a wider audience.
When Chris and Matt get together, it's really dynamic.”
‘Not trying to emulate Clarkson’
At the same time, the new team are generous about The Grand Tour (another suggested title, Gear Knobs, was sadly rejected). Evans declares that, “When I got this job, I watched every old episode of Top Gear back. I'm still amazed that I haven't seen them all. One will pop up and I'll think, 'Wow, I haven't seen that one.' I was struck by all the brilliant things they've done. I'd think, 'God, I'd love to be there with them'. Those three are so good at what they do. I'll definitely watch their new show.”
Right then. I shall go.... to the lavatory pic.twitter.com/auYQdCU3PJ
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) May 13, 2016
However, Evans is adamant that as the new presenter of Top Gear he is not going to attempt to emulate Clarkson or anyone else. “There is of course a lot of residual heat around Top Gear because the show is a hit already. It's like joining a famous band. But there is a great phrase, 'Be yourself - everyone else is taken'.”
This is the 23rd series of a show that has been running on the BBC since 1977. But Evans believes Top Gear is far from stalling. He thinks the brand is so potent, it will survive whoever is presenting it. “If you've got a show that has a lot of heat around it, people will always want to watch it. Let's take ER, for example. As it grew George Clooney, it grew itself. Then Clooney left, but the show was hot enough to withstand that. Top Gear is like that.”
Given the amount of flak he has endured in certain sections of the press, particularly after the airing of the first episode aired in the UK on Sunday night, Evans remains commendably upbeat to the last. He concludes that, “Top Gear is about capers, a gang show, having a right laugh. I want it to be happy escapism. It's a 'hopes and dreams' show. Your TV screen becomes a window onto your hopes and dreams. If you're watching the show at home and you haven't got that car in your garage, you can still think, 'I'd like to be there'.
“It's about kicking back with a glass of something you like on a Sunday night and thinking, 'Let's dive into that world for an hour'.”
The Independent