Well today it finally happened! Drove down to RAF Benson and spent the day with the Clarkson team and the man hmself! Most of the crew were the regular Top Gear crew and RAF Benson is one of the new bases at which the features are filmed. There were loads of stunning cars there for the day - Aston Martin DB9s, Aston Martin Vantage Convertible, Mitsubishi EVO's, the new BMW M5. And there were some right bangers too! The filming of the GTIs was done first (Drew's MK1 had been filmed on Saturday along side a Ferrari Enzo and a lap dancer!!) first static shots were taken of the MK2 to MK4. The it was off down the runway for a sprint between the MK4 Anni, a Skoda Octavia 2.0TDI and a Rover 25 Diesel automatic - needless to say, the Anni come last... but dont believe what you see on film (quotes from the location manger and camera man ) Then a link was filmed between the MK4 and the Mk5 and that was about it. he rest of the day was handed over to Clarkson and the filming of the new M5... and boy is that car fast!!!! Got to speak to Jeremy for a while and hes a top bloke. Very down to earth and managed to give us an insight in to whats coming up on this series of Top Gear Was a great day out and hope to do it again sometime. Some pics:
Was a good day. Clarkson is a top bloke, very friendly and approachable. I definitely know im in the wrong career now! Its not fair!!! [:^(]
Altogether now..... You lucky b`stards!!!! Didn`t realise just how much of a heifer the Mk4 is until seeing it next to the Mk2 and 3.
Yep - Lucky we was. Fuel expenses were paid in cash and we are looking forward to recieving our FREE copy of the DVD which is out in November. Title of which should be something along the lines of: Jeremy Clarkson's Cars from Heaven & Hell Needless to say the MK5 GTI went straight to heaven
Yes, but believe me... its was NOT a fair race Lets just say, if the Anni had won, it wouldnt have fitted in with the script, so the Director drove the Anni. Enough said Edited by: Rob.gti
I presume this is the venue they use for the DVDs? I've yet to see the new TG series, but the rumour was they were moving airfields..although I heard the track hadn't changed on the first program..
As was said Paul, and if you read it properly, we were there yesterday. Drew was there Saturday, so ask him if he has some pics of the lapdancer, not that he posts here any more. This was the first time that RAF Benson had been used, but its hoped that it can be used for future productions. The RAF are very accomodating anytime the Topgear production team want to film anything. For now however, its staying at Dunsfold.
Only reason I mentioned it is that TG was supposed to be moving to Enstone near Chipping Norton, allowing Jez a commute of approximately 5-7 minutes to work. Last I heard, the nimby residents were going mental, even though it's already a rallyschool. Wonder if that plan had ceased?
this proves that most if not all car programs are fixed to make certain cars look good, obviously they are doing something along the lines of making diesels seem better than petrol! just imagine if Rich had his engine in a standard looking mk2 and they put that in a race with a diesel!!
I know Jeremy wanted somewhere more local to himself, and Richard Hammond lives near Gloucestershire/Malvern too. However, they need somewhere they can use for upto a full day every week and Benson is out the question for this as its an active RAF base. So Enstone might be a possibility too, but like you said, the locals might not approve.
I can still remember the day when an Astramax van blew the doors off a Lotus Esprit The start of the *quality* lunacy we have today
