“Gutted at such a sad end to an era. We’re all three of us idiots in our different ways but it’s been an incredible ride together.”
This was Richard ‘The Hamster’ Hammond’s tweet immediately following the verdict that the BBC has sacked Jeremy Clarkson following his fracas with a Top Gear producer. And it rightly is, for us, the fans too. There are a lot of souls worldwide who got their first taste of automotive nirvana living vicariously through the episodes of Top Gear on the telly and its accompanying magazine.
Top Gear’s official website has now removed not only Clarkson, but Richard Hammond and James May from their lead banner. It is widely believed that the two co-presenters have also chosen not to renew their contracts with the Beeb, choosing to work as a ‘package deal’ as May explained to a Sky News reporter.
Here’s what the banner looked like a few days ago. Now the image of the three middle-aged men has been replaced by an anonymous Stig, with LaFerrari, the Porsche 918 Spyder, and the McLaren P1 reflected on his visor. As you may recall, the makers of these three hybrid hypercars had finally agreed to a shootout, when the debacle ensued. Had that not happened, we might have had a chance to see three of the automotive world’s greatest marvels slug it out, accompanied by the ever-entertaining commentary and Hollywood-rivaling visuals that we have come to expect frm Top Gear.
BBC contends that they’re working out ways to see if they can broadcast the two remaining episodes of Top Gear, and keep the show alive. Does that mean that we can expect the silent Stig finally giving us his views on the trio for the first time? Only time will tell.