Underberg, KwaZulu-Natal - Top Gear will be getting a South African spin in its latest reboot series with an episode that brings the madness to the Sani Pass.
The show in its new incarnation will reach South African screens this June and wuill feature an episode testing the team in trying conditions as they manoeuvre their vehicle over the Sani Pass, on the road between Underberg and Mokhotlong in Lesotho.
The BBC show, on DsTV Channel 120, will features new presenters, new locations, outrageous track challenges and high-performance car reviews. The two new presenters are British radio and TV personality Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc, best known as Joey in Friends.
There were some treacherous bends on the Sani Pass that the crew and team had to deal with.
“I dented the car a bit, too”, pipes up Evans, while LeBlanc chirps in that it was “more than a dent”. In that episode the team raced to the highest pub in Africa.
Evans adds of the show: “Before it was Jeremy Clarkson and two sidemen. With us there are only two of us, so it’s 50-50; we share the spotlight, and we share the humour. We have taken the best from the old show, and brought in new ideas and challenges.”
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Evans says there’s not much busking in the show.
“We have a script outline, we pitch a few jokes and the basic outline evolves as the show gets under way. The whole team work together for a common goal. We are critical of every show and see how we can improve on it as it develops.”
LeBlanc was no stranger to the show in its Clarkson days, having recorded one of the fastest celebrity lap on the show. He says he now has a dream job and it makes a nice change from being in a building “with no windows” for 12 years, referring to his stint on the romantic comedy Friends.
The pair have great on-screen chemistry, despite being quite different people - Evans supports Liverpool, while LeBlanc likes American football.
Of their personal lives Evans says he is a “normal family man”. Away from TV and his beloved cars he says he likes to hang out with his mates and enjoy a few beers.
The new series also features other motoring fanatics, including motoring journalist Rory Reid, Eddie Jordan, who has mentored F1 drivers and knows how to push a supercar to the limit, Sabine Schmitz, the first woman to win the prestigious Nurburgring 24 Hour endurnace race, and Chris Harris, another motoring journalist specialising in supercars.
Some elements from the old show have survived, particularly mysterious super-driver The Stig - and if either Evans or LeBlanc knows who he is, they’re not saying.
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