(calm music)
(intro music)
(audience applauds)
- Hello, and welcome to Top Gear.
We've got a proper treat of a show lined up for you.
Tonight, each of us gets to do something
truly extraordinary and I'm talking
proper bucket list stuff.
I drive the world's rarest supercar.
Chris drives an actual time machine,
and Fred drives to Lincolnshire.
(audience laughs)
- Living the dream
- But, we kick off with a review.
Isn't that right, Christopher?
- Yes.
(audience laughs) There's a new supercar out there
from Aston Martin and it's like no supercar seen before
and rather irritatingly they sent Patrick McGuinness
to drive it.
(audience laughs)
(dramatic sound)
- [Paddy] Meet Victor,
a hulking, brooding brute of a machine.
(car engine revving)
That's part 80s muscle car, part futuristic racer.
(car engine revving)
It is seriously powerful, it's seriously rare.
It's everything you could possibly want
from a supercar.
Just look at it, this might be the best looking car
I've ever seen.
In fact, I think he might be the best looking thing
I've ever seen.
And when I said it was powerful, I wasn't lying
836 horsepower and when I said it was rare,
this is the only one that will ever be built.
And the man who owns it has kindly lent it to us.
(dramatic music)
(breathes deeply)
- Okay, better be careful, ish.
(starts car)
(laughs)
(car revving sound)
(car throttles)
Oh my word.
This is not right, it's gone mad, it's gone absolutely mad.
Up front, the Victor's packing a stonking great V12.
Weighing in at a massive 7.3 litres.
No turbos for efficiency, no hybrid for economy.
Victor is an absolute old school monster.
As for how fast this monster will run though,
because it's a one-off, nobody quite knows.
But what I can tell you, is this...
It'll get past sixty in first gear, 90 in second.
120 in third,
and I've still got three gears to go.
(car throttles)
Geez Louise.
So in conclusion, nought to sixty, very, very small number
max speed, very, very big number.
Right, enough of that now,
time to give the old ticker a rest.
(cheerful music)
So, what on earth is this Victor then?
The wild performance is pure 21st century,
but the way it goes about it is savagely primitive.
Take the interior, a steering wheel
from the Millennium Falcon, but a gear knob,
from an old Walnut tree, none of it makes sense.
Until that is, you understand the decades of Aston history,
that have been poured into it.
(dramatic music)
Think of the Victor as Aston Martin's Greatest Hits.
This is the ultimate compilation.
The looks are pure old school muscle.
In fact, the designers took inspiration from this,
their 1970s race car nicknamed 'The Muncher'.
Then we went to the 1980s and the V8 Vantage road car
and looking at this, you can already see
the family resemblance.
Then underneath we go all 21st century Aston
with a 177 supercar.
Same chassis, same engine, but with extra power.
And to finish it all off, same steering wheel and suspension
as the Vulcan racer.
(dramatic music)
Of course, to put it another way,
you might say the Victor is just a big mash-up
of reheated Aston leftovers, but trust me...
(dramatic music)
Get properly stuck in and you soon find
that as leftovers go, these are very, very tasty.
(engine revs)
(yells)
Man! Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho!
Whoo!
(car throttles)
That's- now what we're talking about! COR!
(car throttles)
The steering, the ride, the way it puts its hammer down.
This doesn't feel like a mash up, this thing is proper.
(car throttles)
Woo-hoo-hoo!
Yaaay!
(laughs)
That is mad!
But, it isn't half as mad as what the thing costs.
Now, let's be honest, you're not gonna be disappointed
that this thing's very expensive.
Well, trust me, you're not gonna be disappointed.
Because the Victor costs 4 million pounds.
And who cares? They've only made one.
All right, if you're gonna be all boring and rational,
you could for the price of one Victor,
have 20 new McLarens and go just as fast.
(car engine revving)
But forget boring and rational,
it's a supercar,
it's not supposed to make sense.
Come on.
(car throttles)
Oh my word!
But let's face it,
these bonkers, crazy expensive supercars
are meant to be ridiculous,
they're meant to be daft.
(laughs)
I absolutely love this car.
And the Victor, well, it's the daftest of the lot.
Do you know what? I love that stuff like this exists.
And I love that I got the chance to drive it.
But most of all, I love that it's still in one piece.
(melancholy music)
Victor, it's been a pleasure.
(car door closes)
(exhales)
Absolute work of art.
(upbeat music)
(audience applauds)
- Stunning.
- That for me is what an Aston Martin Should look like.
- It's a muscle car.
- It does look amazing,
but even for a one off, 4 million quid? That's bonkers, Pad.
- Yeah, but the price literally doesn't matter.
They're only making this one and it's already sold.
So you can't even buy it, just enjoy it.
- Right, I'm not comfortable saying this,
but I agree with McGuinness.
(audience laugh)
It may be a load of old Aston bits underneath,
but when it looks like this.
It's brilliant.
- Exactly.
- And now we must move on because Freddie Flintoff
has an itch to scratch.
I thought that had cleared up.
- I do feel the need to explain now, Paddy,
Because ever since I started Top Gear
there's one thing I've wanted to do.
I've wanted to learn to race properly,
to become a qualified racing driver,
kind of like what Chris does.
- Ooh, so you're saying that I'm your idol?
- I am not saying that at all
get that straight out of your head.
What I wanted to know was,
can you turn the middle-aged ex-cricketer
with a dodgy knee into a proper serious racing driver?
So I went to find out.
(dramatic music)
I've had a fascination with speed
ever since I can remember
whether it's cars or cricket balls,
I want everything to be fast.
It's dangerous, you feel vulnerable,
you feel alive.
Rather than say, why do you wanna drive fast?
Why would anybody not want to?
(upbeat music)
To become a racing driver,
first, you need a license,
and that means you have to take a test.
Mine would be in just two days time, so to get up to speed,
I'd be getting a crash course in racing from the experts.
Ginetta is a British road and race car manufacturer,
one whose driver development program
has produced the likes of W Series champion, Jamie Chadwick
and McLaren F1 star Lando Norris.
This is a company with a serious reputation.
One that I'd be trying my best not to ruin
as I arrived at the Blyton Park test track
to meet top trainer, Mike Simpson.
- Wow, hi Mike, this is proper then, isn't it?
- It is, morning, Fred.
How are you doing?
- All right. - Welcome
- [Freddie] I've done a few track days and you turn up
and there's some nice cars out,
but these are proper racing cars.
- This is what we do for a living.
When we start off 14 year old kids actually,
straight from Karting or school in the G40.
- Not going in that, am I?
- You're not going in that, we're gonna skip a step
and go straight into the GT4 level G55,
which is a thoroughbred race car.
- Have you seen this show before, Mike?
- I have, yeah, yeah.
- Have you seen me in a car?
- I have, yeah.
- That's why I'm here.
- Oh good.
- Yeah.
- Just thought we should clear that up.
- No, it's fine, I trust you.
(both laugh)
- [Freddie] It's not often I hear them words
near a car.
(dramatic music)
The G55 GTA is designed to give drivers like me
the first test of a proper race car.
Its 3.7-litre V6, produces 270 horsepower,
which doesn't sound like a lot,
but coupled to a full race spec gearbox
in a car that weighs just 1100 kilos,
it gives you plenty to think about.
(car throttles)
- Oh my word.
- Go on, Fred.
(dramatic music)
- I'm going for me racing License.
When I started this job,
this is one thing I wanted to do.
- [Mike] It goes, doesn't it?
- I don't know why I didn't expect it to be so fast.
But I've got two days before I go for me test.
It's brilliant.
But at the same time,
I'm aware that I've put meself
under quite a bit of pressure.
- [Mike] Down to third.
- [Freddie] The other thing for me is,
I wanna be decent at it,
so I'm gonna have a real go at this.
- [Mike] Nose in.
Your line discipline's very good.
- [Freddie] Yeah don't be fooled,
I'm not a complete muppet.
- [Freddie] Getting to grips with the car
on a damp and slippery track,
Mike needed to see what he was really working with.
And that meant going solo, to lay down my first lap time.
- [Freddie] Rome wasn't built in a day.
Preston might have been.
- Three, two, one, go!
(car engine revving)
(car thuds) - [Freddie] Whoa!
That was a messy start.
(car throttles)
We're on the gas.
Don't chase it now 'cause you've had a bad start.
Now get braking.
Get off the brakes, I'm in hot here, can it hold it?
Oh, I've held it, I've held it!
I felt I was going too fast, but we're all right.
Yes, there we go.
We've got the nose of the car.
(car throttles)
- 1:24.07.
We can work with that for sure.
- [Freddie] Baseline established,
it was time for the real training to begin.
- Second, off the brake. Feed it in.
Go!
Hard now, in a straight line.
Now we're talking.
So you wanna be braking about now,
start to come away from the brake, on the power.
- [Freddie] Woohoo!
- Go on, lad.
- [Freddie] I did feel a bit twitchy at sometimes,
but I got out of it, but,
where is he? Not 100% sure how I got out of it.
(laughs)
- Control the throttle now.
Yes, now, brilliant.
- He's going well done, and I'm going, yeah, cheers mate.
Not a clue.
(laughs)
- [Mike] Squeeze the power.
Start to wind the steering off.
Go, go, go!
(car throttles)
Off the brake, second.
Feed it in, catch it if you need to, catch it.
(screams)
So close.
(laughs)
- It's starting to look quite aggressive,
where before you sort of had a lift,
and then braked a bit and then braked a bit more,
where now you're flat out, bang.
- Yeah.
- And that's how a racing driver acts.
(car engine revving)
- I think I need to get faster,
but in a controlled manner.
And I know I've only been doing it for a morning,
but now I've only got a day and a half left.
(dramatic music)
- [Freddie] And just to add to the pressure,
the afternoon session would be soaking.
- [Mike] You wouldn't be able to pitch at the Lords,
would you, like this?
- Oh I'd be well gone by now.
We're cricket, we don't do rain.
(car throttles)
- A little bit aggressive on turning.
Just turned it a little sharp there.
(car throttles)
- That was a kerb wasn't it?
- Yeah, bit of kerb.
The biggest challenge of Fred's going to be to understand
how much you can ask of the car.
(upbeat music)
So we need to go through a little bit of pain out there
and make some mistakes, for him to feel it
and figure out where he needs to be.
(car tyres drifting)
- [Freddie] Nearly.
- What, nearly hit the barrier?
(car engine revving)
- Argh.
- He will be a racing driver by the end of this.
- [Freddie] Day two of training.
And with just 24 hours to go until the license test,
Harris wanted to check in on my progress.
I was so pleased when I saw the sun this morning,
when I opened my curtains. - Yeah.
- It's like don't want no more rain.
Here he is.
Look at him, boy racer.
- [Mike] Popping and banging, all right.
- Andrew.
- [Freddie] How are you?
- Good how are you?
- Really good, actually, really good.
- Enjoyed it?
- I've enjoyed it more than I thought it was gonna.
I thought I'd like it, but I've really liked it.
- Okay, weather today's barmy, yesterday?
- Oh it was dreadful, it was dreadful. (laughs)
- Excuse book.
- It was bouncing down, wasn't it?
You're working on the excuse book, I like it, mike.
- I'm just giving you facts, I'm just giving you the facts.
- He did a great job, and we put him through his paces.
- It was a test of me skills.
- Did you find yourself having to take it quite seriously
or more serious than you expected?
- I was really focused.
There's no messing about really.
What I didn't do,
I didn't just go gung-ho at the start.
I started easy.
- Normally what you do is you go 110% and then ramp it back.
- Back, yeah, I went the other way this time.
- Okay, well I'm loving this.
Well, Fred, at the end of this
and I can't believe I'm saying it.
- [Freddie] Say it.
- You're gonna be a racing driver.
- Well, you know cricketer, boxer, musical theatre, actor,
philanthropist.
(Chris laughs)
What's that word for-
- Philanthropist.
- That's the one, charity.
- Yeah, yeah. (laughs)
- What's the one where he does businesses?
- [both] Entrepreneur.
- Right? I'm gonna leave you to it.
- No, no, no, no, you're not.
- Why? - You're going to put a lap down,
so I've got something to aim at.
- Okay, so what lap time did he manage yesterday in the wet.
- He did a one minute 24.7.
- Go and get ready.
- I was gonna have a cup of coffee, but now I'm... okay.
- Want us to warm the car up for you, Chris?
- Yes please, Fred.
That's what was racing drivers do, isn't it?
(all laugh) - Come on, Fred.
(car engine revving)
- Three, two, one, go!
(car throttles)
- Oh, he's having a right go here, look at him.
(car throttles)
- [Freddie] This is fast, isn't it?
- Second gear at the chicane, so he got a good exit.
- This is a technical little bit, gotta get an apex,,
sacrifice a bit in the middle.
Then going for it and open as soon as possible.
(car throttles)
- I'm standing back. (chuckles)
- I don't wanna be anywhere near this.
- Oh.
(car throttles)
- I've always had respect for Chris Harris, 'course I have.
Probably even more so now. I've been doing a bit of this,
'cause he bangs on about it, doesn't he?
Me and Paddy just humour him, where now,
I'm starting to think, fair play, Chris.
You're actually really good at this, aren't you?
- Hazard a guess?
- 13, 14, somewhere there.
- No, you're quicker than that.
- What?
- 1'11? - Yeah.
- Probably seven, eight.
- I think I've given you something to aim for.
- If I get anywhere near that, I'll be over the moon.
- I know, that's a serious challenge is that.
- He's saying it's quick.
- No, no, you'll get in there.
- Well, yeah, we've got some work to do.
- [Freddie] Harris, had just gone round 13 seconds faster
than anything I've managed so far.
But now, with a dry track to play with,
it was time to see how close Mike could get me
to that 1'11 benchmark.
(car throttles)
- There's a hell of a lot more grip.
(car throttles)
The hardest bit is, I've gotta put it all together
in one lap and then do it again and again and again.
(car throttles)
- That was a 15 zero.
Little quick, catch it, catch it, catch it, catch it.
(car tyres drifting)
- [Freddie] Racing requires consistency.
And with training time almost up, the only way to get that
would be to head out on my own and focus.
- Three, two, one, go.
(car throttles)
- Little bit of a touch on the brake, bring it round.
One of the things I've found is if I talk through it.
Mind that kerb, it's the big one, mind that puddle.
Almost commentating me own driving, it helps me concentrate.
Into fifth, now on the brake.
And I'm thinking about what gear I'm in,
my speed going into corners, my lines.
If I talk through it, I'm almost planning it.
Don't go chasing Harris, just drive.
- This is a very different Andrew Flintoff.
- [Mike] It's measured and controlled.
- Now out.
(car throttles)
Go go go.
- What did he get?
- 1:13:08.
- That's not bad.
- It's not bad at all.
- [Chris] Go!
(car throttles)
- Better start.
- I've had a correction, keep concentrating.
- [Mike] This looks nice.
- [Chris] This is quick.
- [Mike] Go on, Fred.
- 13:09.
- [Chris] Go!
(car throttles)
- I think that was really good.
- Yeah.
- [Freddie] Not too shabby.
- Nice.
- I think there was less messing about there.
- Yeah.
- Don't back off.
(car throttles)
- I think that was a better lap.
- 13:07.
- So that's where he's at, 13:07.
- It's three laps within a tenth and a half.
That's impressive actually.
(car throttles)
- So that's it, training's over.
- Top job as far as I'm concerned.
The fact that you were consistent is everything.
- That's right, and that's what a racing driver's job is.
Consistency is how you win a race.
- The next stage now is to get the license.
It's gotta be official, exam time.
- I'm gonna SWOT up tonight, Chris.
(dramatic music)
- [Freddie] My test would take place the next afternoon
at Donington Park.
The exam itself is split into two parts.
Practical, and first up, theory.
(dramatic music)
- Hello.
- My name is Stuart Jones,
I'm your examining instructor today.
- Hey Stu, I'm Fred.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit nervous.
I've learnt all the facts, I hope.
- [Stuart] First section, second section, third section,
you have to get a hundred percent.
- Yep.
- Fourth section, you've got to get five
out of the eight questions right, okay.
(dramatic music)
- I've been looking to find out what else I can revise
for the other questions, and it seems you can't.
It's the first time I've been in a forum,
trying to find out,
but no, they just say it's common sense
and things you should know.
The things that I should know
aren't quite right sometimes.
(chuckles)
(mumbling)
- Are we confident?
- Relatively.
- All right, well we'll put that in for marking now,
and then we'll go get suited up
and we'll go do our practical.
- Okay, yeah, thank you.
I was banking on that being the easy bit.
This is the hard bit now, on the track.
And look at the weather, the clouds are coming in.
We don't need none of that.
It looks like the end of the world down there.
We need to get out, and,
yeah, this is the bit I'm more nervous about.
(dramatic music)
The practical test plays out over three laps.
Stuart will be assessing every aspect of my driving,
looking to make sure I had the control
not to pose a risk to myself or other racers.
(car door closes)
- Things that will fail you instantly
is if I have to take control of the car,
if you run off the circuit,
if you miss a flag or a light
and I have to tell you about it, or if you kill me.
(chuckles)
Okay, that's an instant failure
and I will haunt you afterwards.
(chuckles)
Okay, green light tells us that the track is live.
Okay, make sure you check for other people on circuit.
- We're all good.
(car throttles)
- [Freddie] Stuart, would give me a couple of laps
to get to know the track.
And then we'd begin.
- Right, you're on your test.
Go, go, go, go, go!
Three good laps, Fred.
- I'm coming in, at this one, coming around.
Little bit of a lift and in.
On the brake.
Drop gear.
On to the brake, drop down, look for the apex, seen it,
going in.
Onto the accelerator, braking, looking out there.
To fourth, gonna clip this Kerb, bit of a lift.
Coming out, coming out.
Feeding it.
- One more lap Fred.
- Onto the brake, now I'm turning in.
Down into third.
Coming round, coming round, now I'm out of it,
get on, get on, get on.
I can see the apex, I'm coming in.
Middle of the track.
I'm on it.
- Okay, pit lane this time, pit lane this time.
Nice and easy into pit lane.
Okay, so from a practical point of view,
you were definitely consistent.
I was watching you,
your head's moving all the time,
which is superb.
You're looking through the corner,
you're looking at your mirrors,
you're very aware of what's going on.
You ticked all the boxes
for you to pass your practical tests.
We just need to see
whether we've got you through your theory now.
Okay.
All right, all right.
So, section one.
- Yeah.
- You got 15 right.
- Yes.
- And you needed to get 15 right, so that was a pass.
Section two, you got three right,
and you needed to get three right.
- Oh thank God for that.
It didn't sound many, three, did it?
- Section three.
Again, you got all the questions right on that.
On your last one, which is sort of your general knowledge.
I'm pleased to say you passed.
- Oh get in! No, high five it, high five it, Stu.
Get in, I can race! Come on!
I didn't pass me driving test till third time.
- Oh, he tells me that now. (laughs)
Brew time?
- Oh, of course, I'll make them.
- [Crew] Here he comes.
- Has anybody asked for a racing driver?
I don't know, I don't know.
I don't know. - [Crew] Well done, well done.
- Thank you, thank you. (crew applauds)
I'm so relieved.
Yeah, I actually drove all right there as well.
But to get a racing license is one thing.
To call yourself a racing driver is a whole new game.
(dramatic music)
(cars throttle)
This is the GT Cup Championship,
a Pro-Am series that sees grids of over 30 cars
racing side by side.
For my first ever race,
I'd be sharing a track with Lambos, Porsches McLaren's
and Astons.
And raising the stakes even higher, the car I'd be driving
had gone up a level too.
It's called the GT4.
It looks a lot like the old GTA,
but this one has a hundred more horsepower, bigger brakes,
more aero and slick tyres.
What all that meant was free practice was an eye opener.
Cars everywhere.
Come on, go on, off you go.
Oh, you (beep).
He was giving me nothing, that lad.
(cars throttle)
I was battling then, I really was, meself, the car,
everything that's going on.
(dramatic music)
Didn't see you.
(beep)
(cars throttle)
Come on, Fred, you're better than this.
I expected it to be hard.
Not this hard.
(chuckles)
Jesus.
Feeling way out of my depth,
and about as far from competitive
as I'd been since we started.
Mike was doing his best to find some good in my performance.
- Wait for that front to bite.
So you did a 14.5.
It's good, good progress.
You started on a 23, so good progress.
- Yeah.
A two minute 14 second lap time was all well and good,
but it didn't take a genius to work out
that to even get up to the back of the pack,
I'd need to find nearly 10 seconds.
I'm in the deep end, aren't I here?
I need to start swimming.
At the minute I'm treading water, I think.
But with qualifying up next, which would decide
where in the pack I'd be starting the race.
In all honesty,
I was just fighting to keep my head above water.
(car throttle)
Oh, too much speed.
Calm yourself down.
You're driving like a road car, you don't like that.
Think like a driver.
You're no longer a cricketer.
That ship has sailed, son.
One's off, he's got his bonnet open as well.
Oh, you absolute (beep).
Making it through just about unscathed.
(car bumps)
(beep)
I had qualified two places off the back of the grid.
For the race itself,
me and Harris will be driving as a team,
each getting a 25 minute stint at the wheel.
As I would be heading out first,
while the pit crews were hard at work,
prepping the cars for the main event,
I went to compare notes with my teammate.
It was just a bit of a sensory overload.
You know, you've got all these people, all these cars,
all these noises.
I don't know if embarrassed is the right word,
but you've got all these people there for you.
And then you're thinking, am I doing all right here?
- Let's face it, normally, in your other life,
you just rock up, smash it, it's easy,
'cause you can just deploy ball skills, coordination,
bit of confidence.
This is a bit more involved, isn't?
There's a lot more going on.
You can't just... - Yeah.
- It's inconceivable that you'd just rock up
and smash this.
If your noggin isn't quite engaged,
and you're a reasonable driver,
that can be difference between 10 positions on a race day.
- What's your trademark?
- Follow the person that's fast.
- Yeah.
(both laughs)
Is that it? - Yeah.
- You're like the lad who copied homework, aren't you?
- Oh, absolutely.
(dramatic music)
- [Freddie] What I really wanted
was to see how close I could get
to a competitive time.
- One minute, boys, till we start queuing up.
- Yeah, all good.
Maybe, if I could somehow stay in touch,
I might even give Harris the chance to fight for places,
but that was just the wishlist.
The only real question was, would all the training
and the testing and the practice
count for anything when it mattered?
- [Commentator] You can see just how warm it is here
at Snetterton as the cars are heading out onto the grid.
- A lot of cars for little, Snetterton.
Lot's of very, very, very fast cars.
- Here they come, the big boys are coming through.
(blows whistle)
This is bonkers.
How do I get myself into these situations?
Need a wee.
- [Chris] Hey, Fred, all looking good?
- [Freddie] Yeah, all good thanks mate.
- Stay out of trouble on that first lap.
Let them all go off around you,
just stay out of trouble on that first lap.
- Will do, boss.
Come on, Freddie lad, time to shine.
See what you've got.
(dramatic music)
- [Commentator] So whilst they head
on their final formation lap,
let's guide you through the grid and the starting drivers.
- Don't stall it, don't stall it, don't stall it,
he's rolling, he's rolling, he's rolling.
He's away, go on, Frederick.
- [Commentator] This is where we see number 3,
Charlotte Gilbert starts alongside car number 19,
which is James Hillary.
The 17th row of the grid is number 6, Alex Stevenson,
alongside car number 10,
it's a new entry for the Team HARD Ginetta,
in the hands of Freddie Flintoff.
- Oh, there's a bit of traffic out on this course.
Look at all the cars!
Ohh nerves.
- I'd love it if there was a heart rate monitor.
This is a man who famously is ice cool,
but I suspect he's up in the 150s now.
Dripping with sweat.
- We come round these corners for the next time
we're gonna be off.
- [Commentator] They start to get themselves
into neat two by two order.
- [Crew] Red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red.
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!
- Round 8 of the 2021 GT Cup Championship gets underway.
- Just keep them in me sight.
- [Commentator] Contact, and that's John Seal
who's gone into the back of John Dillon.
- And they're all at it, these lads.
Braking, braking.
They stay in their packs, Freddie-boy.
(cars throttle)
- Come on, Fred.
- [Freddie] I'd survived the first lap,
but with that 2:14 practice run still ringing in my ears,
it was time to get my head down
and use the rest of my stint
to see how much faster I could go.
- Get in your rhythm.
- Hanging on there, geez!
That was a fastest I've taken that.
- Ohh, come on.
- 40.6, first sector, that's his quickest first sector.
- You have the weekend already.
- Yeah.
- That's as quick as some of these up here, look.
- Yeah.
- [Freddie] Russell, you little git.
Oh, I don't know what, stay there you,
stay there, stay there.
- Come on!
- 02'08.5 Wow!
- Oh, well done lads.
- Power, come on.
(cars throttle)
- He's just been overtaken by a couple of cars,
but crucially, for Fred, he can see what's ahead of him
and he starts to follow stuff.
And when he's got something to follow, he goes quicker.
If we could just have a car in front of us
with an Australian batsman on the back of it, he'd be at it.
- He'd break that record, wouldn't he?
- He'd be at it like a rat.
- [Mike] He would.
- [Crew] Okay, Fred, there's about 15 minutes remaining,
pace is good.
Thanks mate.
The clock was ticking down to my handover to Harris
and I was starting to find my stride.
- Wow.
- Mega, that's really
- 39.4
- I mean look up here.
- In the first sector.
- 39s up here look.
This is a mega lap, this.
- Come on, don't tense.
- He's hanging on here, isn't he?
(dramatic music)
(cars throttle)
- [Mike] 02'05.
- That's amazing.
- That's perfect.
- That's his best lap by two seconds.
- Another two seconds, yeah.
- Come on, Fred, 2:05.7,
so fastest lap was your fastest lap ever.
- [Commentator] Freddie Flintoff has done a fantastic job
over the course of this weekend,
and he's picked up more and more and more pace.
- [Freddie] But this is racing
and I was about to be reminded
that your luck can change in an instant.
(car throttles)
- Cars playing up.
- [Crew] Okay mate, we've got about 6 (indistinct)
till your stop, just hold out till then.
- Just getting into it, argh.
(dramatic music)
(car throttles)
- [Commentator] And into the pit lane they start to pour.
- Well, he's just done a 2:08,
but the car went past and didn't sound so good.
(car throttles)
- Come on, stay with me, baby, stay with me.
- Box this lap, Fred, box this lap.
Box, box, box.
- [Commentator] Into the pit lane comes Freddie Flintoff.
- How bad's the engine, Fred? Is it dead?
- As soon as you get in fifth
and you get your foot to the floor,
when it gets to the top end it just starts misfiring.
Just see how you think, Chris, argh.
(car engine revving)
- [Commentator] Chris Harris at the wheel
of the GTA Ginetta, could make his way into the race.
(cars throttle)
- Oh, I've got a big old misfire.
This is gonna be a fairly torrid few laps I think.
(dramatic music)
Yeah, this is undrivable now.
So sorry, but that is not drivable.
- [Freddie] Just two laps into Harris's stint.
- Got nothing.
It's just died.
- Our race was over.
Here he is, he's gone.
- Ohh, what a disappointment.
Sorry, Fred.
- [Commentator] Retirement for the number 10 Ginetta.
A sorry end to the weekend for Freddie Flintoff
and Chris Harris.
- So that is the other side of racing for Andrew Flintoff.
Sometimes it happens like that, but Fred did so well,
actually, it is what it is, isn't it?
And I'm really pleased for him.
I don't feel that sad at all.
Strange feeling.
Normally I'll be throwing my helmet around, but I'm not.
(dramatic music)
- So that was disappointing.
But selfishly, I'm actually quite pleased.
All my career, I've struggled with debuts.
I've never thought I've done myself justice
when I've done something for the first time.
I reckon this is my best debut I've ever had.
And we didn't finish, whether that's a reflection
of how bad the other ones are,
or how well this one went, I don't care.
From where I was, so nervous,
not wanting to put me foot down
and worrying about the limits of the car.
I was hoping that something'd happen at some point
where it'd all be put together, and it seemed to.
I can race, come on.
(car throttles)
You know, I'm still not the fastest.
I'm probably still one of the slowest,
but from where I started, for me that was an achievement.
And for a moment, probably two or three laps out there,
I did feel like a driver.
I'm not gonna spray any champagne.
But what a weekend.
(audience applauds)
- Gutted.
- Me too. - Gutted.
- So much fun, so much fun.
- [Chris] That is racing.
- [Paddy] Gutted. - [Freddie] Ohhh.
- I'm gutted for you.
Look, you didn't finish the race,
but look how happy you both are.
Fred, how did it feel to be a racing driver?
- I'll tell you what, Pad, I loved it.
I didn't think it'd be that hard.
I've got a new found respect for racing drivers.
- Yeah.
- And although this lad is not me idol,
I've got more respect for what this lad does.
He can drive. - Oh, he can do a little bit.
Now listen, is there any chance
you two'll ever finish a race?
We had it in Baha, we had it in this one.
(all laugh) You've got to be able to finish a race.
- Oh, yeah, we'd like to, we'd like to.
- You've gotta be able to do it boys.
- And I hate to say it,
I'm behind the wheel when it breaks always.
- Yeah, there you go.
(all laugh)
- Do you wanna do the next one with me, Pad?
- Yes. - Yes.
- Thank you. (all laugh)
- You're unbelievable.
- You just said, you break the cars.
- Flipping turncoat you are.
(all laugh)
- Chris, what do you make of Fred's performance?
- He did a great job, but most of all,
we finally saw the professional sportsman.
The eyes changed, they changed.
- Yeah. - Dangerous, he was.
And now we must move on because this year
marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most famous
and strangest cars ever made.
(dramatic music)
The superstar celebrating the big 4-0.
(upbeat music)
is the unmistakable, the timeless, DMC DeLorean.
Yes, it was four decades ago, back in 1981,
that this stainless steel wedge
arrived back from the future.
(car throttles)
It would, of course, become the greatest movie car
of all time,
but not even Hollywood could have dreamed up the story
of its creation.
A story of supermodels and drug deals,
the story of a man who would stop at nothing
to change the course of history.
That man was John Zachary DeLorean.
A genius engineer,
born and raised in Detroit,
working at General Motors in the 1950s,
he would go on to develop Pontiac's legendary GTO.
This was the man that arguably invented the muscle car.
And in a world of grey suits,
DeLorean was a sharp-dressing, swaggering, playboy.
He hung out with the stars.
He married models.
He even treated himself to a brand new chin.
- Probably to be successful as an executive
you have to have a certain amount of ego.
- That ego, though, didn't sit well
with the buttoned-up world of boardroom bureaucracy.
DeLorean wanted more.
So in the 70s,
he stomped off to form his own car company,
one with a grand vision to create an affordable,
exciting and ethical sports car.
One that he said would live forever.
Not lacking confidence, our John.
- He wanted a car that was striking.
I remember him saying to me very early on in the program,
that there were three things
that were absolutely sacrosanct.
One was the stainless steel body,
the other was the rear engine,
and the third were the gull-wing doors.
- [Chris] To sort the styling, in 1975,
DeLorean turned to the legendary designer
behind some of the most beautiful Ferraris
and Maseratis ever made, Giorgetto Giugiaro.
DeLorean wanted his car to look like nothing
that had gone before.
Suffice to say, Giugiaro obliged.
And all DeLorean needed now was somewhere to build it.
Scouring the globe for juicy tax breaks,
he almost did a deal in Puerto Rico,
but he ended up on the other side of the Atlantic,
here in Belfast.
(dramatic music)
In the late 70s,
Belfast was in the grip of sectarian violence.
The Labour government of the day
reckoned that creating jobs was key to peace,
so DeLorean was welcomed with open arms.
- You know, there's complete euphoria about this factory.
In nearly every household there's an application form.
- [Chris] Ever the optimist, DeLorean told them
he'd build a factory from scratch in a muddy bog
on the outskirts of the city and that he'd deliver the car
to market in just two years.
It was an insane timeframe.
Getting a car from concept to the road
normally takes about five years,
and that's assuming you've got a functioning factory
and a trained workforce.
DeLorean had neither.
What's more, that muddy bog
that the factory was to be built on was in Dunmurry,
a site sandwiched between Protestant
and Republican neighbourhoods.
- We adopted a positive discrimination policy
to make sure that we got a 50/50 workforce.
And we had a workforce
that worked together alongside each other.
There was not one iota of problem inside the plant.
- So, improbably the factory, which is still here,
came together with barely a hitch.
The problem was the car was nowhere near ready to be built,
but DeLorean had a solution for that too
and it took him to the very other side of the UK,
to Norfolk, the home of Lotus.
(rock music)
Wanting his car to be as sharp to drive as it was to look at,
DeLorean turned to the best in the business,
Lotus boss, seven-time Formula 1 Constructors' Champion,
Colin Chapman.
(cars throttle)
- Colin Chapman had built up Lotus.
It was selling cars in every country in the world.
They were high-performance sports cars
which were acclaimed worldwide.
And Colin had achieved everything
that John DeLorean wanted to be.
So he knew that if Colin Chapman took on the job
and said that he could do it, he would do it.
- [Chris] Chapman was soon to learn, though,
that while DeLorean has been busy selling
his cutting-edge sports car dream,
the actual prototype was woefully underdeveloped.
- It turned out it had no space for a fuel tank,
it had no space for a spare wheel.
There were a number of different things
that the basic packaging had to address.
(upbeat music)
- As luck would have it, though,
Chapman already had a car to base the DeLorean on,
his world-class Lotus Esprit.
And using its chassis and a modified fibreglass body,
the new car began to take shape.
But in order to achieve that all-essential
car of the future look,
DeLorean wanted that body clad in stainless steel.
- In essence, it was building the same type of car
that we were used to at Lotus
but you had to finish up with a set of panels
that were all beautifully matched.
That presented a huge problem in itself.
- But against all the odds,
John DeLorean and his team delivered.
In January, 1981, 40 years ago,
the DeLorean landed.
Sleek and sharp-edged
and clothed in that beautiful bare stainless steel.
The DeLorean looked truly space-age.
It was an extraordinary achievement.
To this day,
no car has ever reached production faster.
John DeLorean had realised his sports car dream,
but there was just one problem.
It was terrible.
So bad that sitting here right now,
I don't quite know where to begin.
But let's begin with the engine.
DeLorean was gonna use the rotary engine
from the Mazda RX-7, cost and expediency meant he didn't.
Bad decision.
What he ended up with was a V6
that had been jointly developed by Renault, Peugeot
and Volvo, producing a not very exotic 130 horsepower.
The thing weighed quite a lot
because of the stainless steel panels,
so performance was terrible.
With this manual gearbox it would do nought to 60
in nine and a half seconds,
but it was slower with the three-speed automatic
that most Americans wanted.
So, it wasn't a performance car at all.
Good Lord.
It wasn't a very refined car either.
In throwing it together so fast,
the engineers had had to build the DeLorean
with whatever they could lay their hands on.
The brakes come from a Ford Cortina,
the glove box from a Volkswagen, the door locks,
Austin Allegro, Gear knob, Renault Feugo.
You're not really robbing from royalty, are you?
And then there's the handling.
Oh my God.
It's terrible.
Halfway through the corner, if you just back off,
it wants to oversteer immediately.
Wow.
I mean, it's relatively controllable,
but on a public road, good God,
it's an accident waiting to happen.
And it would be an expensive accident at that.
In 1981, when this was launched in the US,
it was the same price as a Porsche 911.
DeLorean's dream of this affordable sports car,
well, it was over before it had even begun.
It was too expensive.
But, instead of stopping to work
on the car's flaws,
in a move designed to show the world that all was well,
DeLorean ramped up production.
This was to prove a poor decision.
- It was a bad time to be launching a new car.
World markets had gone to hell in a hand basket in '81,
there was a massive oil crisis.
There were people knifing each other
in the gas queues in Los Angeles.
- [Man] DeLorean sales are falling faster than most
in a thoroughly depressed US car market.
- It meant, of course, that we needed financial help again.
- [Chris] But the political landscape in the UK had changed.
The DeLorean backing Labour government was out
and the Conservatives were in, led by Margaret Thatcher.
- To say that she was unenthusiastic
about putting more money in, would be an understatement.
There was no way
that any more money was coming from government.
So it was really down to John in the main
to find ways to raise investment.
- And things were about to get worse.
In a last ditch attempt to keep the business afloat,
DeLorean started to do deals
with people you really don't want to do deals with.
In October, 1982, in a Los Angeles hotel room,
John DeLorean was arrested in an FBI drug sting,
apparently doing a deal to shift 25 kilos of cocaine.
- In the factory, there was a mix of disillusionment
that he could possibly have done such a thing,
but there was also this secondary element of
many of them considering John
to be the equivalent of Robin Hood,
the saviour who was prepared to do anything
to salvage their jobs.
- [Journalist] Any comments?
- [Man] The American, John DeLorean.
- [Anchor] In court this morning,
John DeLorean was told-
- [Chris] At his trial two years later,
DeLorean pleaded that he was a victim of FBI entrapment.
He was found not guilty.
- Car maker John DeLorean has been cleared
of all charges against him
at the end of his drug-trafficking trial in Los Angeles.
- [Chris] But the damage had been done.
Having built just 9,000 cars,
the DeLorean motor company was dead.
John DeLorean's dream was over.
And that might have been that for the DeLorean story,
the car and its creator destined to fade into obscurity.
And then, a year after DeLorean's trial, this happened.
- Watch this, watch this.
- Back to the Future was a global blockbuster.
The time-traveling DeLorean's flux capacitor
and flaming tire trails
made it an instant Hollywood superstar.
- Hah! 88 miles per hour.
(dramatic music)
- I'm a Back to the Future obsessive.
I must watch them every other week with one of my kids.
This is, for me, the ultimate film star car.
88 miles an hour was the number
that just lodged in all of our heads.
And there's that famous speedometer.
And of course it only goes to 85.
I've never understood why they did that.
(dramatic music)
So why choose the DeLorean?
Well, to use the immortal words of Dr. Emmett Brown,
"If you're going to make a time machine out of a car,
why not do it with some style?"
What a line.
(upbeat music)
Ironically, had Back to the Future arrived a bit sooner
in this space-time continuum,
it might actually have saved the DeLorean.
As it was, this most famous of cars
will go down in history as a victim of bad luck, bad timing,
and a bad boy boss.
But you know what? When you're driving this car,
none of it really matters
because it's instantly recognisable.
Even 40 years after it was launched,
people know exactly what it is.
And 40 years from now they'll still know exactly what it is
because it's the time machine.
(car throttles)
(upbeat music)
In fact, perhaps John DeLorean did build a car
that would live forever,
just not quite the way he imagined.
(audience applauds)
- Yeah.
- The most recognisable film car of all.
- I'll tell you, amazing story.
Amazing eyebrows.
- Oh yeah.
- And what a chin.
- I can't believe how futuristic it looks, even now.
- Yeah, I don't know they did it.
- I reckon they shaved a bit round here
and then reshaped it.
(audience laughs)
- Huh? - It's the car, not the chin.
- Oh, I'm sorry, sorry.
All right then, I suppose if you want attention,
outside Harrods, forget your Bugattis and your Paganis,
get yourself a failure from Belfast.
(audience laugh)
made out of old Lotus bits.
- And no question, the second greatest movie car
of all time.
(chuckles)
Don't even go there, that is the greatest.
- Excuse me.
- Yeah.
- James Bond? DB5?
- Oh, relax, lads, relax.
What about Herbie?
- Ooh, Herbie.
Show a bit of love, show a bit of love for the bug.
(laughs) Herbie!
- Does the DB5 have a flux capacitor?
Does Herbie have a flux capacitor?
No, game over.
- Listen, you go back in time
every time you open your wardrobe to the 70s
by the looks of things.
(all laughs)
- You should go back in time and visit your hair. (laughs)
- It's come back, no need for that.
(all laughs)
- We must leave it there
because we're out of time time.
Next week it's all about the youth,
as we try to find the best first cars for brand new drivers.
We're gonna need a TikTok account.
Thanks so much for watching.
Good night.
How dare you.
(audience applauds)