5. Car vs. The Sun
In series eleven of the show, the almost traditional 'Clarkson in a car vs. Hammond and May across Europe' went one step further. Not only venturing outside of the continent, Jeremy Clarkson in a Nissan GT-R was racing what is often considered the most regular and clockwork man made endeavour, Japanese public Transport. Travelling 355 miles From Hakui to a revered Buddhist statue on Mount Nokogiri was conceived to be the closest possible to eliminating any unpredictable elements from Clarkson's opponent. In series sixteen however, they chose an opponent so predictable it formed the basis for clockwork itself, the rotation of the Earth. Having done so for the past millions of years, the movement of our planet allows for the sun to rise in the east every morning, and set in the west at night. With this in mind, and armed with a V8 Jaguar MK IV XJ and plenty of energy drinks, Clarkson set off from Lands End, England's most westerly point, at sunset in a night race against the sun to Lowestoft, the most westerly. Whilst not exactly having the most banter, Clakson could hardly ring the sun's mobile and taunt it, in some ways it was no different to a test drive round the Top Gear track, but in others it was highly unique. Without the occasional mishap in his opponent's journey, there was nothing to take advantage of in terms of relaxing. It was simply an all night drive, on the shortest night of the year, with no room for error. But he did choose the "more fun" A303 over the better fuel consumption of the M5/M4. A decision that obviously didn't do any harm, as he made it through Lowestoft itself to the very most easterly tip of the British coastline just in time to watch the sun rise over the sea.