How good of a driver is JC?

Technically speaking I don't know how good he is, but he always astonishes me with his skills so I think he's an amazing driver. Many years of practice helps!
 
He is just as fast as your middle-range German industrialist :)

When I come to think of it... now that Captain Slow has had all his racing trainings... We certainly need a race of the three presenters, to find out who's best! :)
 
leviathan said:
He is just as fast as your middle-range German industrialist :)

When I come to think of it... now that Captain Slow has had all his racing trainings... We certainly need a race of the three presenters, to find out who's best! :)
Click to expand...

I think James would be the dark horse to be honest. Captain Slow seems to not so slow outside of TG.

I was just reading on Pistonheads that James recently crewed on the Round Britain power boat race & he was mentioned quite a number of times in GT Porsche magazine by Chris Harris (he of Autocar and Drivers Republic). James is apparently no stranger to fast things.

And then there is his biking obsession....
 
Compared to an average driver out on the streets, JC is obviously better. But within the enthusiast circle he's probably average or a little below.
 
TJP said:
I was just reading on Pistonheads that James recently crewed on the Round Britain power boat race
Click to expand...

Last I heard he wasn't able to do it due to insurance issues. But I agree - I'm sure he has a lot of talent hidden up his sleeve.

What's that he once said..."I think fast track driving is a little like playing the bagpipes. A gentleman can, but doesn't."
 
James seems like he'd be a secrete weapon on the track probably now just because of all the afore mentioned training he's gotten on TG.

As for Jezza, again, as a racing driver I think he's still somewhat talented, not F-1 caliber but he's proven on TG and his DVDs that he has some serious skills in the car control department. I mean I wouldn't be able to powerslide an 800hp Koeniggsegg
 
I think hes great at power-oversteer but then clueless when it comes to "inertia drifts"/lift-off or braking oversteer. Partly why AMG Mercs are great for him and Porsches aren't. He uses enough of his mind just thinking of funny things to say that theirs no shame in him being a just a "average" driver so far as journalists go. If nothing else i'm sure he could kick Quentin Wilsons ass.
 
Necx0 said:
Put it this way, they showed the "outtakes" of James' power test for amusement, Jeremy would be no better.
Click to expand...

Why would you say that? Jeremy has spent endless hours driving on the Top Gear track, whereas James has only been out there a few times, and only once in a serious exotic.

Just by virtue of familiarity and experience I would say he's better than Jezza.
 
I have to agree with Necx0, I think Jeremy is just average. Because you see him slide the cars around a couple of times doesn't mean there were 847 tries that didn't work.
 
shellygrrl said:
1 min 50 sec.

Tied for 18th overall with: Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Patrick Stewart, Lionel "Helloooo" Ritchie (on the board as "Rich Tea"), Martin Clunes, and Sir Cliff Richard.
Click to expand...

To be fair though, he did have Hammond and Jason Dawe both in the back (which nobody ever seems to mention afterwards).
 
NooDle said:
I have to agree with Necx0, I think Jeremy is just average. Because you see him slide the cars around a couple of times doesn't mean there were 847 tries that didn't work.
Click to expand...

But would you and I get it right after 847 tries? Is it just trial and error?

Like I said, he's above average. He's gotta be after so many years practice.
 
I think I can get a car to do pretty much anything after 847 tries.

I'll grant you above average, but he's nowhere near the godlike levels of car control that some people seem to think he has.

Driving the same car in the same place for a billion laps is a lot better practice than driving every car ever made just about everywhere. That's why the Stig = God.
 
Shawn said:
Why would you say that? Jeremy has spent endless hours driving on the Top Gear track, whereas James has only been out there a few times, and only once in a serious exotic.

Just by virtue of familiarity and experience I would say he's better than Jezza.
Click to expand...

Think of how many Top Gear films show Jeremy spinning around in circles. GT2, 599, MC12 just off the top of my head. Now there is nothing especially wrong with that, if you are going for the big oversteer slides you will eventually overstep the mark and spin around in circles.

However in the other part of your question, yes after 847 goes you would be able to do something equally impressive if your test track was a runway as well, as would just about anybody. He is good through practice, however given the years and equipment he has been driving he should be a LOT better.

That said, you don't watch Jeremy for his driving abilities, that's what Tiff Needell is for.
 
There's a huge difference between smoking tyres, powersliding, J-turns and handbraking compared to being a good driver round a track. You only need to watch the actions of some of the modders on a wet supermarket car park to know that the former aren't exactly rocket science and given Jeremy's years of fooling around, what he does on the TG track should by now be second nature.

Crash's Laguna Seca point is a very good one (not to mention James' huge improvement round Oulton Park under Jackie Stewart's tutelage) in that driving spectacularly and driving well are two completely separate things.
 
Hey

I also think that jezza is really not a professional driver and he is far from being as good as they are. But, saying that he is just an average driver is really inappropriate.

Because, ok you can try 498 times on a track, but what about on road test ? and on MPH show ?? If you are such a bad driver and need to try all day long to do a single powerslide , then at the end of the day you're dead, stuck in a road barrier.

More than that, i'm pretty sur that be able to manage 500hp cars is not as easy as it seems to be. And doing that on track must also be quite hard. Because, when you just go on track with a normal car with normal engine, you feel how hard is to drive fast, how hard is to brake late. Was thinking to be a quite good driver before going on trackdays, where you learn fast to be modest on driving skills. So my guess is that jezza is a fairly good driver, but far behind professional or experienced track driver as his last SLR 7'22 test proved.

On James : the only thing I know is that he has driven faster than a lot of driver, like plato, needle of VBH. and that is so great !!
 
Last edited:
The correct answer to this question, IMO, is: Better than 99.9999999% of the people who slag off on his driving abilities.
 
He's not bad, but you must remember he never claims to be a good driver, actually in a lot of races he notes how a "fat middle aged man with a dicky hip" is able to keep up and notes its a credit to the car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top