How good of a driver is JC?

The correct answer to this question, IMO, is: Better than 99.9999999% of the people who slag off on his driving abilities.

:lol: It's funny seeing people get really really defensive when no one...uh...is on the offensive in the first place.

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.

Well said! Clarkson is quite humble in that respect and he knows his limits. He would rate himself as average within enthusiast circles (obviously better than the normal average driver.)
 
Certainly quite a good driver on track. As he always said he's just a normal driver in the mid-age crisis.
Still remember his episode in Speed, where he drove Colin's car off road and ended up in a ditch:lol:
 
he's good but he's not perfect and i know for sure that there are people just now on the road, that are better than him. He knows the track, he's been doing car reviews etc for more than 20 years?. He knows the hang of it.

But, as you can see, there are artists, actors, that are better than him..
 
seems to me he's only good at powersliding...i doubt if he can top the celeb lap record depite he's more familiar with the track than anyone else:D
 
Let's put it this way - he is much better than Richard Hammond.

Hammond has the courage to go fast, but if you have watched all of Top Gear episodes, you will find enough evidence that he actually isn't very good at it. (Example from this season would be the lorry driving challenge, when he was driving downhill, he drove it like it's a normal car, he didn't think at all about all the extra weight of a truck)
 
When Jeremy did the lap, didn't he have like 3 other people in the car with him? And if I remember correctly, he wasn't even that serious. In a car like the Liana with that little power, I guess the extra weight, probably over 100kg, kind of makes a bigger difference than if they were in a more powerful car.

Jeremy is definitely a great driver. Sure, he won't be the next Michael Schumacher, but in terms of car control, I think he's definitely way above average. I mean, he's kept up with professional racecar drivers many times like that time with the Lancer chasing the lambo, and in the mini with the German Nurburgring Queen, etc. He's gone much faster than most tuner car street racers will ever dream of, if by enthusiast circle people mean individuals who're intrested in tuning their cars, then how many people in the enthusiast circle routinely have above 500 horsepowers to play with? and he's taken cars like the NSX around crazy tracks like the Leguna Seca, and not just on a playstation! People often forget that even on a Playststation, keeping a fast car like the NSX on the track is seriously hard work. XD

I think with that much experience, all he needs is someone like that retired F1 driver from last season who took 20 seconds off of James' lap time to get him to unlock all the potential and make him become much faster.
 
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After seeing him in tonight episode of Top Gear (11x06) he really handled that fiesta well round the shopping centre, they might have faked some elements but he looked to be doing quite a lot of the stuff in that segment. He ain't the Stig but he's certainly much better than the average Joe.
 
He's gone much faster than most tuner car street racers will ever dream of, if by enthusiast circle people mean individuals who're intrested in tuning their cars, then how many people in the enthusiast circle routinely have above 500 horsepowers to play with? and he's taken cars like the NSX around crazy tracks like the Leguna Seca, and not just on a playstation! XD

There are definitely "enthusiasts" who are simply posers and not everyone who calls himself a "tuner" is considered an enthusiast. But here in America, you'd be surprised at how affordable one can "tune up" a car up to and over 500HP, especially with Corvettes, Mustangs, and Camaros. And it won't be surprising to see guys turn up in cars that have doubled that power at the local drag strip :cool: We also have grassroots, "amateur" racing organizations (NASA, SCCA, etc.) as well as car interest clubs and organizations that offer sanctioned races at alot of big name racetracks in USA. Alot of guys go to the track every weekend and hone up their skills.

The "enthusiast" scene is gonna be different between Europe and America.
 
Jezza in the Jag v Sabine in the Transit around the 'Ring....kinda says alot.....
 
And then, Jezza Vs Sabine in the Minis, he kept up with Sabine rather nicely.. and old FQ400 vs Murcielago, he again stayed within striking distance of yet another touring car driver..
 
He's a good hand with the handbrake turns as we saw today, though again nowhere near like Tiff, but then again, he doesn't need to be that good.
 
On this trip to Laguna Seca, it would of been interesting to see him play with a Force Feedback enabled Steering wheel, I just plugged my wheel into my PS3 to play Gran Turismo Prolouge and it is incredibly different, you have to deal with force feedback, controlling the rear of the car, heel toe, etc. You just can't do it and they don't allow it on a controller.


I reckon he would of been close to his Playstation time if he did.
 
:lol: It's funny seeing people get really really defensive when no one...uh...is on the offensive in the first place.

You thought I was being defensive? Now that is funny. :rofl:
 
On this trip to Laguna Seca, it would of been interesting to see him play with a Force Feedback enabled Steering wheel, I just plugged my wheel into my PS3 to play Gran Turismo Prolouge and it is incredibly different, you have to deal with force feedback, controlling the rear of the car, heel toe, etc. You just can't do it and they don't allow it on a controller.


I reckon he would of been close to his Playstation time if he did.

you make the game sound like a simulator of some sort, afaik heel toe or no heel toe doesn't matter in the game, and "controlling the rear of the car" simply means understeering into the computer cars. even with a steering wheel. seriously, the physics of the GT series is still so lacking, it's nowhere near dynamic enough to be a fair example of a racing simulator.

however, i would love to see the nurburgring nordschleif track in LFS and have clarkson set a time in it using a proper simulator.
 
Jeremy was trying pretty hard when he went around Laguna Seca in the NSX - does that give a calibration point for his skills that could be used to compare to other drivers? He managed a 1:57 according to Wikipedia against a "probably possible" 1:41.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Raceway_Laguna_Seca

Cheers

Crash

His lap time at Laguna Seca was indeed his tell.

I'd expect a stock NSX on street tires to be closer to 1:50 with a driver than knows the track but think it would be nearly impossible for one to run 1:40 without both better tires and a very talented driver.

That said, some his saves were quite good considering he was in a mid-engined car.
 
you make the game sound like a simulator of some sort, afaik heel toe or no heel toe doesn't matter in the game, and "controlling the rear of the car" simply means understeering into the computer cars. even with a steering wheel. seriously, the physics of the GT series is still so lacking, it's nowhere near dynamic enough to be a fair example of a racing simulator.

however, i would love to see the nurburgring nordschleif track in LFS and have clarkson set a time in it using a proper simulator.
Oh dear, can we not turn this into a my videogame is better than urs thing? I'd like to think that my brother's Gran Turismo 3 helped me pass my license test. I specifically did some of the license test in that game since I had failed my first irl attempt. :lol: I can only imagine how good the new one is with physics and stuff.
 
I think Jezza is probably a very good amateur driver. In the mall he displayed pretty good car control from what I could tell, and he has held his own in "races" on the track against the Stig, the Ferrari test driver in the 430, the Evo vs. Murcielago, etc. Also his times at the Nurburgring and Laguna Seca weren't half bad.
 
When Jeremy did the lap, didn't he have like 3 other people in the car with him? And if I remember correctly, he wasn't even that serious. In a car like the Liana with that little power, I guess the extra weight, probably over 100kg, kind of makes a bigger difference than if they were in a more powerful car.

So far as I can recall he had Hammond and Dawe in the car with him - which I am sure would make a sizable difference in the Liana. :)
 
clarkson is terrible as a racing driver, but extremely competent as a normal driver.

He sure knows to to pedal a car around an track/airfield though. Actually, I'd be pretty disappointed if he doesn't, seeing as he had years and years of practise as a journalist.


Overall, ya, he is pretty good, but nothing amazing when compared to a racing driver.
 
well...JC is not 100% talentfree ;)
 
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