4. Car vs. Plane (& Public Transport)
As mentioned previously, races across Europe became somewhat of a recurring feature on the show, but there is one which outshines them all. If the race to Oslo which saw Hammond and May only reaching their destination by the time Clarkson had returned (almost definitely by plane) back to his home in England is at one end of the scale, the race to Switzerland is most definitely at the other. Using the various roads and motorways, Clarkson drove from the Top Gear studio to Verbier, courtesy of a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. Hammond and May meanwhile had to catch a bus Guildford, a train to Woking, coach to Heathrow, and then a plane. Once they landed in Geneva, yet more trains and a coach were needed to reach their final destination. Although each race is designed to be a close call, as only their second such undertaking in series five, this was the closest of them all. Whilst waiting an hour for the bus that was only the first leg of their journey, I wonder if Hammond and May would have realised how close this race would eventually become. Throughout all the various forms of transport, Jeremy Clarkson's speeding ticket and James May's refusal to run on television, a 650 mile journey across a whole continent eventually came down to the very last road. On their final 12 mile bus journey Hammond and May were biting their finger nails looking out for Clarkson's Ferrari, only to be overtaken in Verbier itself, whilst walking between their Bus Stop and the Skiing Lodge.