Well now I won't have to decide between watching Top Gear or studying for finals. I also thought it a bit odd that Top Gear and TGUSA might overlap. Glad to see there will be some specials in between though.
Could this actually be the reason? Scheduling Top Gear with BBC America so it doesn't interfere with TGUSA? I know with Doctor Who they are down to a two-week delay between British debut and American debut. They should wrap up the new episodes of "Top Gear: The Lost Episodes" (everything before series 8 that never aired on US tv yet) somewhere around the holidays, then a few weeks gap and new Top Gear.