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Kicking off The Grand Tour…

Well, everyone else has made comment about the newest car show to hit our screens, so I guess it now has to be our turn!

With generous helpings of tongue in cheek humour, stunning photography, and a three-way competitive edge throughout, this “new” show took all the elements that made Top Gear such a success and repackaged them for The Grand Tour. Those of us who are avid credit watchers will note that to achieve this task, many members of the team who were behind Top Gear “of old” have also participated in this new production, and it looks like the experience has shone through.

Obviously, for legal reasons, The Grand Tour must be seen as a different format to Top Gear, but I doubt any fans of the “old” show would be disappointed by the familiar elements that have been carried across… Bickering between the presenters, fast cars racing other fast cars, smoking tyres while drifting round corners, timed laps on a new track with amusingly named sections… They’re all there…

Here at UKMotorTalk we have often debated the old question “Is Top Gear still a car programme?”. Arguments usually include “no, it is an entertainment show that includes cars”, and “yes, it is an entertainment show that includes cars”..!!

There can, however, be no doubting from this opening episode of The Grand Tour that cars are still very much central to this “new” format, starting, as it did, with “The Holy Trinity” McLaren/Porsche/Ferrari shootout that was promised before the demise of Top Gear.

The complex energy recovery systems of the 950hp LaFerrari, Porsche’s 918 Spider with its integrated two electric motors, and the mind blowing technology of the McLaren P1 go head to head (to head!) on the Algrave International Circuit in Portugal. I won’t spoil the result….

So, where does it go from here…? Johannesburg next week… and we believe Rotterdam, Lapland, Whitby, Stuttgart, Nashville, Dubai and Loch Ness are also on the tour.

Fingers crossed for episode two…

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Goodwood 2017 tickets – On Sale Now!

Yes, apparently it is that time of year again…

Are you ready to start filling in your 2017 diary (or digital equivalent) yet…?

Goodwood is now selling tickets for the Festival of Speed and the Revival for 2017, and assuming that there are no big FIA calendar changes, they will be:

• Goodwood Festival of Speed: Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th June 2017 Now changed to:
• Goodwood Festival of Speed: Thursday 29th June to Sunday 2nd July 2017
• Goodwood Revival: Friday 8th to Sunday 10th September 2017

Tickets for both of these events are available now from the Goodwood website or by more traditional telephone… 01243 755055

Another Goodwood date worth noting:

• 75th Members’ Meeting: Saturday 18th to Sunday 19th March 2017. Tickets currently only available to GRRC Members, though a limited number become available to the general public from 2nd January 2017.

Meanwhile, to distract you until then, enjoy a few minutes sitting alongside Karun Chandhok racing in an Austin A30 on a wet Goodwood circuit at this year’s Revival….