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[15x05] July 25th, 2010

[15x05] July 25th, 2010

  • 10

    Votes: 556 66.8%

  • 9

    Votes: 165 19.8%

  • 8

    Votes: 60 7.2%

  • 7

    Votes: 24 2.9%

  • 6

    Votes: 5 0.6%

  • 5

    Votes: 10 1.2%

  • 4

    Votes: 4 0.5%

  • 3

    Votes: 6 0.7%

  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 1

    Votes: 2 0.2%
  • Total voters
    832
vikiradTG2007 said:
No, Senna never raced in the era of ground-effect cars, side skirts (which enabled ground effect all over the length of the car) were banned at the end of 1982. Limited ground effect in the form of rear diffusers is still allowed to this day, but ever-more-restricted in terms of size.
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vikiradTG2007 said:
And it took them 5 years and a literal war between the governing body and the constructors to stamp them out.
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Thanks for the clarification. I wonder why ground effect was hated so much by the FIA...
 
Just judging by the number of pages discussing this episode, you know that everyone loved it.

But I can't describe how amazing that was. I'm not one to be emotional, but I actually got a bit misty-eyed twice during the show, once during the absolute elation in James' face while maxing out the Veyron, and at the end of the Senna film.

Just a perfect episode.
 
snakebite said:
O H M Y G O D!
I seriously had a crisis during that episode! It was absolutely perfect! I'd give it a 15/10 if I could.
Best bit for me was the Bugatti Veyron. It breaking the lap record just proved my suspicion that they didn't give the original one the full beans. Probably because the owner told them so (it actually already had a dent in it).
Even the SIARPC segment was extremely good, and thats usually the weakest part.
Just WOW!
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A question: During the Jensen Button interview, Button devilishly mentioned that he broke into the Top Gear track and practiced it with his Veyron. He also said that he didn't want to talk about damaging it since he was trying to sell it.

I've been assuming that the white Veyron was his, and that he drove it during the fast lap, and dented it himself. Does anyone know whether this is true?
 
It was amazing. The Senna tribute was great. I've watched it again, and again, and again and each time I get teary eyed. I think back to watching Senna in the Detroit Grand Prix back in the 1980s. I was just a dumb kid then. It's a shame that I didn't realize back then what I know now. I got to see the driver, that many of the best drivers look up to, race.

Had I only known what I was witnessing.
 
ChaNce, the pictures I've seen of Jenson's Veyron is black on black.
 
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I just came across this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring...oar-in-summer-due-to-womens-short-skirts.html

Short skirt in the summer can be a distraction for male motorists Photo: GREG SORENSEN
The latest statistics show that 29 per cent of men admitted being distracted by short skirts and low-cut tops in the Summer weather, leading to record numbers of accidents on the roads.

And according to car insurance company Sheilas' Wheels, the summer smash phenomenon is getting worse each year - in 2009 men made 16.4 per cent more claims during the Summer than in any other month.

Behavioural psychologist Donna Dawson explained: "Research shows that men are far more easily distracted behind the wheel than women.

"Men are more visually orientated and so distractions such as an attractive woman walking down the street can quickly take their attention away from driving and the job in hand.

"Testosterone also plays a part, as it makes men more prone to aggression, especially when frustrated by a confined space such as a car - and men are quicker than women to expose such irritability in hot weather."

A spokesperson for Sheilas' Wheels car insurance said: "In the summer but men are significantly more likely than women to claim during the summer months - often as a result of wandering eyes.

"We urge all motorists to keep their eyes on the road - regardless of outside distractions - and keep cool behind the wheel."

"A car is a dangerous weapon in the hands of a distracted driver and a momentary lapse can lead to a lifetime of regret if a serious accident occurs."
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3/10. Worst episode ever. Too serious and boring. I don't care what's faster - some stupid snowmobile or some road-illegal contraption that barely looks like a car at all. They could as well test what's faster - 55" TV rolling down the hill or cow with a parachute falling off the plane. I don't care about Senna documentary either - seen thousands of those already. Maybe it was a good episode of... something, but not a good episode of TG. It actually didn't feel like TG at all, more like some side project done by same people.
 
SadOldBint said:
Does anyone know why the Senna section has been left out of the repeats? Really bloody annoying!
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Money. It's been mentioned a couple of times, FOM charges the BBC a lot to air the F1 clips so the BBC only forked out cash for the initial showing and the first repeat.
 
narf said:
Money. It's been mentioned a couple of times, FOM charges the BBC a lot to air the F1 clips so the BBC only forked out cash for the initial showing and the first repeat.
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Oh for f*ck's sake! It's not as if Top Gear doesn't bring enough dosh for the Beeb!

Thanks for answering BTW.
 
I would give it a nine (8.5 but I'm rounding up to 9). Everything was splendid apart from the outcome of the Hammond race (which seemed fixed to me), and the fact that the SIARPC segment was another film plug (more reasons about that but I won't go into).

I've only just watched this and can't be bothered to look through the thread, so what's this about the Senna film that Jeremy mentioned at the very end?
 
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Absolutely loved this episode. !0/10 one of the best ever for me.
The only part which bothered me a bit was Hamilton driving THE most spectacular F1 cars of all time, and what did they do? Play the greatest engine sound for a few seconds and the coverage of the lap could be done much better. They failed to show the terrific feeling this car oozes out. This car deserves a bit more than the 2min shallow going-over they did.
 
Excellent, excellent, excellent.

As a temporary show, this would be very good. But as car show, goodness! Has Clarckson been more honest and without any his normal maneuverisms earlier on the show? How they managed to get two A-stars to a car show on British TV, did someone on marketing do a little research about the size and devotion of TG fanbase?

Because with episodes like this, with a following like TG's, the show will rise further. I mean, the short A-list of any Global TV-shows. How many you know outside of U.K? Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno etc.. After that they are drama/comedy/action -fiction. Imagine TG getting after this steady stream of A-list stars. Of course, it does mean that much, but maybe it will get even better funding and maybe even more notice from the car manufacturers.

Then something, more like a general notion. In Finland, the bigger commercial TV-channel (MTV3) presents this show min one year delayed. And because the slot is on hour minus a lot of commercials, almost everything "non-important" like the news etc are cut away. Sometimes even subtexts are translated from English in a form trying to hide away the fact that we are watching minimum two series from the newest. Yes, the TV-network is just serving fecis to their watchers.

I did not know that even BBC does things like that, cutting the Senna-piece for money. Must say, very surprised - would not have thought that of the BBC.

It just seems to be, that if you want to watch a good show, only way is through the internet. Legal considerations aside, I am sure that TG would be sent out globally almost during same day, but money..money. It is not even the money the watcher pays in a form of TV licence or using his time in countless commercials. No, it is just minimizing the costs for the TV-networks. And with that, I have no moral objections watching the show via Internet. Oh, and 1080i HDTV? Forget that, not here in Finland in public TV, not for many years.

I hope with everything written before, I can rely my gratitude to all of you who have made it possible for me to watch Top Gear - properly actual, proper length, proper form.

Thank you TG-team for this great episode.

Thank you all the rest, probably in this forum too, for making it possible for me to see the episode.
 
10/10

10/10

Awesome episode.
The Senna documentary is superb, although Jeremy was wrong about Senna being remembered as a "sporting hero who gave millions to help underprivileged children" in Brasil. I'm a big F1 fan and almost everyone I know here in Brasil (even people who don't like F1 at all) share the same feeling that since Imola/1994, sunday mornings are not the same. At that time, we used to gather all family and neighbors in front of TV just to watch the races.
People who really think that Ayrton Senna was not a big deal should watch again this episode.
I think Jeremy could have explained the letter "S" on Williams F1 Car front wing (but I don't think McLaren would be very happy about that).



williams-fw31-livery-official-f1-2009-2.jpg


Williams-FW31-Toyota_6.jpg
 
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