The most plausible of theories put out is that they simply passed through the country en route to the Russian city of Sochi, the 2014 home of the Winter Olympics.
Whichever the case, they did cause quite a bit of commotion, as there seem to be many fans of the show in those parts, as well as many dedicated sites discussing it…
The presenters were not only photographed in Kiev, but also caught on video on an unspecified highway, and they even stop to have a chat with local media at a restaurant for about 20 minutes – James May was reportedly very polite, but quite silent, but that’s probably because he was extremely chuffed about driving his blue right-hand drive Dacia Sandero.
Alongside, Jeremy thought the VW Up! would be an adequate match (and an excellent car to light up a cigarette in with the windows up), while Richard went for a Ford Fiesta hatch.
Interesting choices, given the huge distances involved; admitting their Journey started in Kiev, they’d still have a lot of miles to cover before reaching the speculated destination – about 930 of them to be exact, or 1,500 km.
Naturally, being in Ukraine, they couldn’t resist the temptation of absorbing some residual radiation, so they went to the Chernobyl area. I wonder what they will get themselves banned for here?
By Andrei Nedelea
Thanks to Lavrik D. from Youcar for the heads up!
Story References and Photos: Youcar
It happened while the two television hosts were filming Top Gear’s latest Christmas DVD called “The Perfect Road Trip”. Not so perfect it seems, since Clarkson and Hammond were allegedly caught doing over 140 km/h (87 mph) in a 90 km/h (56 mph) area. Since the two were more than 50 km/h (31 mph) over the legal speed limit, they received an instant driving ban in France.
French police apprehended them after being flashed as they approached a tollbooth - Clarkson in an Aston Martin Vanquish, Hammond in a Porsche 911 GT3 – and issued them with the on-the-spot fine and a ban, effective immediately.
Clarkson and Hammond were obviously not delighted at all about the fine and about banned from driving. Here’s what Clarkson wrote about the incident in his column in The Sun newspaper:
“If you are going to break the speed limit, make sure you are not in France. You would be advised to pay attention to what happened next. Because the on-the-spot fine was everything we had in our wallets. We were left penniless. And they took away our driving licences. No court case. No arguing. Nothing.”
Well, at least Clarkson and Hammond got some free publicity for their new DVD, on sale from November 18. You can watch the trailer after the break.
By Dan Mihalascu
However, “driven” is an understatement, since Hammond made the Marauder flatten cars, smash through walls and defy lion attacks. He also took a bright red one for a drive around Johannesburg, creating quite a fuss.
In one of those trailers, we saw a large off-road-like vehicle playing the role of a monster truck on a white Alfa Romeo 156 and an older generation Renault Megane sedan.
Developed in cooperation with domestic tuner Cardi (bodykit design) and Germany's 9ff (performance upgrades and build), TopCar's Panamera Stingray comes with a full bodykit made from carboxylic fiber that includes newly designed front and rear bumpers, side skirts, rear diffuser, new bonnet and a twin rear spoiler.
