I don't follow the production dates of things, but it would seem to me that most of the show is filmed before the first episode airs. So Why bash it when they havn't had a second series to fix things? And it seems to have improved to at least Series 3-5 of TGUK already. I suspect the lack of Stig Laps has more to do with manufacturers US corporate offices not allowing cars put round the track, yet. Personally, the show is fine the way it is, and hopefully gets better. But compared to 99% of the crap on the History Channel, its brilliant. Pawn Stars is the only show to present any kind of entertainment challenge on that channel, IMO. As for this episode, it was nice to see something original(ish), but keep in mind that TGUK has repeated itself endlessly to the point that their own cheap car challenges are utterly predictable. So "OMG they ripped off REAL Top Gear!" makes no sense, since thats what they do all the time on the original show anyways.